Polysaccharides have been highlighted as potential anti-cancer agents due to favorable safety profiles, broad sources, and biocompatibility. The reviewed evidence indicates these compounds can act via multi-target, multi-pathway mechanisms, including promoting immune cell polarization and tumor cell apoptosis, suppressing tumor cell migration and angiogenesis, and modulating signaling cascades such as P53, NF-κB, and Wnt/β-catenin.
Specific structural features—monosaccharide composition, molecular weight, β-glycosidic linkages, and triple-helix conformations, as well as chemical modifications—are associated with enhanced anti-tumor activity. The text emphasizes a need to deepen understanding of structure-activity relationships and to develop targeted delivery systems to improve bioavailability and tumor specificity.
It also calls for large-scale, multi-center, long-term clinical trials to establish safety and efficacy of polysaccharide-based cancer therapies. Uncertainty remains regarding the precise clinical impact, and the potential for selective toxicity across tumor types is not quantified in the provided content.
Further research directions focus on mechanistic elucidation and translational advancement.
Frontiers in Immunology published a clinical update in Infectious Disease on 02 Apr 2026.
The item focuses on Natural polysaccharides as multifunctional anti-cancer agents: structure-activity relationships, mechanisms of action, and therapeutic potential.
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