Chapter Eight - Fighting melanoma and resistant phenotypes African medicinal plants and their phytoconstituents.

Invasive melanoma accounts for only 1% of skin cancer diagnosed but causes most fatalities. It is the most prevalent malignancy diagnosed in the United States. Scientific databases like Pubmed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Google Scholar were used to retrieve information on the cytotoxic activity of botanicals and phytochemicals from the flora of Africa toward drug-sensitive and multidrug-resistant (MDR) melanoma cancer cells. This information was further compiled. As a result, botanicals from Piper capense and Callicarpa longissimi as well as 8,8-bis-(dihydroconiferyl)-diferulate (1), licarin A (2), and soyauxinium chloride (3) were the more suitable samples that could be helpful to combat the multidrug resistance of melanoma cell lines. Extensive preclinical and clinical studies on these natural products are required, to develop novel anti-melanoma drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]