Recent trends in anti-cancer activities of terrestrial plants-based polysaccharides: A review

Cancer has become one of the major diseases threatening human health. Conventional therapies have great adverse effects and are prone to drug resistance, and novel therapies are expensive and cause a heavy burden to patients. Plant polysaccharide has become a research hotspot in the field of anti-tumor functional foods and pharmaceuticals due to its advantages of high efficiency and low toxicity. Studies have shown that plant polysaccharides have little toxic and side effects and are characterized by multiple perspectives and mechanisms, preventing the emergence of drug resistance. Its anti-cancer molecular mechanisms mainly include inhibiting tumor proliferation and tumor apoptosis, inducing autophagy, effecting cell cycle, inhibiting tumor angiogenesis, regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition, tumor oxidative stress and immune regulation. Compared with existing cancer drugs, plant polysaccharides have become one of the research hotspots in the field of anti-tumor due to their safety and efficiency. In this context, this review searched the anti-cancer literature on plant polysaccharides published from 2020 to 2022. By comparing the advantages and disadvantages of current and traditional cancer treatment methods, the feasibility of plant polysaccharides as effective natural drugs for the treatment and prevention of cancer was further explored.