Cinobufagin: a promising therapeutic agent for cancer

Objectives Cinobufagin is a natural active ingredient isolated from the traditional Chinese medicine Venenum Bufonis (Chinese: Chansu), which is the dried secretion of the postauricular gland or skin gland of the Bufo gargarizans Cantor or Bufo melanostictus Schneider. There is increasing evidence indicating that cinobufagin plays an important role in the treatment of cancer. This article is to review and discuss the antitumor pharmacological effects and mechanisms of cinobufagin, along with a description of its toxicity and pharmacokinetics. Methods The public databases including PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Elsevier were referenced, and 'cinobufagin', 'Chansu', 'Venenum Bufonis', 'anticancer', 'cancer', 'carcinoma', and 'apoptosis' were used as keywords to summarize the comprehensive research and applications of cinobufagin published up to date. Key findings Cinobufagin can induce tumour cell apoptosis and cycle arrest, inhibit tumour cell proliferation, migration, invasion and autophagy, reduce angiogenesis and reverse tumour cell multidrug resistance, through triggering DNA damage and activating the mitochondrial pathway and the death receptor pathway. Conclusions Cinobufagin has the potential to be further developed as a new drug against cancer.