Overview of the anticancer activity of withaferin A, an active constituent of the Indian ginseng Withania somnifera

International audienceCancer is still considered a “hopeless case”, besides all of the advancements in oncology research. On the other hand, the naturalproducts, as effective lead molecules, have gained significant interest for research due to the absence of toxic and harmful sideeffects usually associated with conventional treatment methods. Medicinal properties of herbal plants are strongly evidenced intraditionalmedicine fromancient times. In the context above, withaferin A (WA) was identified as the active principle of the plantWithania somnifera, its molecule being reported to have excellent anticancer and tumour inhibition activities in various cell lines.Furthermore, the in silico approaches in the medicinal chemistry ofWA revealed the biological targets and gave momentum forthe research that leads to many amazing pharmacological activities of WA which are not yet explored. This includes a broadspectrum of anticancer actionsmanifested in different organs (breast, pancreas, colon), melanoma and B cell lymphoma, etc. Thisreview is an extensive survey of the most recent anticancer studies reported for WA, along with its mechanism of action anddetails about its in vitro and/or in vivo behaviour