Foreword

I am very much pleased to write my Foreword for this inter-disciplinary title "Medicinal Chemistry and Marine Life: Anticancer Drugs Sourced from Marine Life" relating to an untouched aspect of Fisheries and Pharmaceutical disciplines.

Cancer is an increasing public health hazard and about 60% of the anticancer drugs of natural origin are presently in use to treat this disease. Owing to the tumor cells resistance to drugs, and undesirable side effects observed with the synthetic drugs, there is an urgent need for the development of new anticancer drugs. In this regard, the marine environment, an exceptional reservoir of anticancer compounds, has paved way for further investigations on the utilization of its vast biodiversity. Comparing with terrestrial organisms, marine organisms do not have a distinguished history of use in traditional medicine. But during the last 50 years, advances in new technologies and engineering opened up the marine environment to large scale scientific exploration. Despite considerable challenges, 11 marine biota-derived anticancer drugs arrived in the market and are currently used in therapeutics.

The present title, first of its kind deals with the major constituents of marine life with promising anticancer compounds and in my opinion, this publication could serve as a potential resource for teachers and students of both Marine and Pharmaceutical Sciences besides serving as a reference for anticancer agents from marine source.

I congratulate the authors for their timely contribution.