Understanding the function of the tumor microenvironment, and compounds from marine organisms for breast cancer therapy

Table 2 Marine compounds with potential anticancer activity against breast cancer from crustaceans

Marine compound	Chemical nature	Mechanism of action	Ref.
Hydro-alcoholic extract of crab	Chitosan and Astaxanthin	Reduced proliferation by inducing apoptosis and decreasing nitric oxide production	Moghtaderi et al[74]
Chitosan	Polysaccharide	(1) Reduced proliferation without affecting normal fibroblasts by inducing arrest at the G2M phase; and (2) Induced apoptosis by decreasing the expression of Bcl2 via elevation of p53 level	Resmi et al[104] and Mohamed et al[105]
Astaxanthin	Oligosaccharide	Induced PCD in BC cells via alteration in the cyclin D1, p53, Bax, and Bcl2 expression through inducing arrest at G0/G1 stage	Resmi et al[104] and Mohamed et al[105]
Chondroitin sulfate	Muco-polysaccharide	Inhibited angiogenesis by reducing tube formation via inhibiting the expression of VEGF	Chen et al[75]
β-carotene	Terpenoids	Stimulated apoptosis in BC cells by inducing the release of cytochrome C, increasing PPAR-γ, and p21 (WAF1/CIP1) expression and decreasing cyclooxygenase-2 expression through ROS generation	Moon et al[102]

PCD: Programmed cell death; BC: Breast cancer; VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor; ROS: Reactive oxygen species; PPAR-γ: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma; WAF1/CIP1: Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21.