The biologically active furanonaphthoquinone
napabucasin was found originally in the stem bark of
Tabebuia cassinoides.
1) It has been reported that napabucasin exhibits the impressive cytotoxicity against KB cells as well as various cancer cell lines.
1-4) Furthermore, napabucasin can kill cancer stem cells isolated from many types of cancer tissue through inhibition STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 3)-driven gene transcription. Since napabucasin effectively suppresses cancer relapse and metastasis in mice, napabucasin is expected to contribute to the development of cancer therapeutics.
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