La fitoterapia como fuente de medicamentos reguladores del metabolismo tumoral y activadores de la respuesta inmunitaria

Cancer is the name for a group of complex and multifactorial diseases that manifest differently depending on the organ affected or the molecular mechanism involved. In general terms, there is an alteration in the mechanisms that regulate cell growth, generating their uncontrolled proliferation, which breaks the normal homeostasis of the organism, affecting not only the target organ, but the individual in general. The search for therapies against cancer is based on the knowledge of these molecular mechanisms and their countless consequences. In the present review, we include the work done and published in our research group during the past 13 years on Caesalpinia spinosa (Molina) Kuntze and Petiveria alliacea Linne (Phytolaccaceae), as well as some data not yet published. The review focuses on the mechanisms related to tumor energy metabolism and the regulation of the immune response, as well as the latest procedures that will allow us to conduct the first phase I clinical trial for a cancer drug in Colombia.