Unravelling the Therapeutic Potential of Gambogic Acid: Deciphering Its Molecular Mechanism of Action and Emerging Role as an Anticancer Xanthone

Use of current anticancer therapies such as chemo-radiotherapy (CRT), biologics and immunotherapies are severely limited due to side-effects and systemic toxicity. Cancer metastasis, drug resistance, and recurrence of cancer are other important considerations to evolve targeted therapies. This highlights the urgent clinical need to explore natural compounds that are bioactive, biosafe and unquestionably efficient as immune-modulators for cancer prevention and anti-cancer therapy. Natural compounds are extremely successful in clinics as they have unique structures and complexity. Gambogic acid (GA), a plant derived caged-xanthone molecule extracted from Garcinia hanburyi tree as a dry resin that has emerged as a miracle molecule that exhibits multifarious biological activities against various cancers making it attractive for clinical applications. Since the molecular targets are still unclear, this review focuses on the therapeutic efficacy and its associated mechanistic interactions with its recognized targets involving anti-angiogenesis, anti-metastasis, synergistic effects and chemo-sensitization.