Potential of Biomaterials Derived from Marine Algae as Anticancer Agent

Cancer is one of the most serious and common human diseases, causing millions of deaths per year worldwide. Currently, the discovery of noble therapeutic agents with a natural origin for cancer treatment is a major challenge. In this context, marine algae with wide species and phytochemical diversity will offer great scope for the discovery of new drugs. Algae with marine origin, including microalgae and macroalgae (seaweeds), constitute more than 90% of oceanic biomass. Marine algae are rich sources of pigments, lipids, carotenoids, omega-3 fatty acids, polysaccharides, vitamins and other fine chemicals. The biomaterials obtained from marine algae are important ingredients in many products, including cosmetics and drugs for treating cancer and other diseases. The in vitro and in vivo evaluations of biomolecules derived from marine algae have shown a vast range of pharmacological properties such as antioxidant, immunostimulatory and antitumor activities to control cancer. In spite of the rich source of various bioactive molecules, the marine algal flora largely remains unexplored for the discovery of active molecules against cancer to date. Hence, this review consolidates the available information on marine algae-derived anticancer molecules to provide baseline information for promoting anticancer research based on biomaterials derived from marine algae.