Amaryllidaceae isocarbostyril alkaloids and their derivatives as promising antitumor agents.

This review covers the isolation, total synthesis, biologic activity, and more particularly the in vitro and in vivo antitumor activities of naturally occurring isocarbostyril alkaloids from the Amaryllidaceae family. Starting from these natural products, new derivatives have been synthesized to explore structure-activity relationships within the chemical class and to obtain potential candidates for preclinical development. This approach appears to be capable of providing novel promising anticancer agents.