Nature has provided prodigious reservoirs of pharmacologically active compounds for drug development since times. Physcion and physcion 8-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (PG) are bioactive natural anthraquinones which exert anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties with minimum or no adverse effects. Moreover, physcion also exhibits anti-microbial and hepatoprotective properties, while PG is known to have anti-sepsis as well as ameliorative activities against dementia. This review aims to highlight the natural sources and anticancer activities of physcion and PG, along with associated mechanisms of actions. On the basis of the literature, physcion and PG regulate multitudinous cell signaling pathways through the modulation of various regulators of cell cycle, protein kinases, microRNAs, transcriptional factors, and apoptosis linked proteins resulting in the effective killing of cancerous cells in vitro as well as in vivo. Both compounds effectively suppress metastasis, furthermore, physcion acts as an inhibitor of 6PGD and also plays an important role in chemosensitization. This review article suggests that physcion and PG are potent anticancer drug candidates, but further investigations on their mechanism of action and pre-clinical trials are mandatory in order to comprehend the full potential of these natural cancer killers in anticancer remedies.

自古以来，大自然就为药物开发提供了大量具有药理活性的化合物。Physcion 和 physcion 8-O-β-D-吡喃葡萄糖苷 (PG) 是具有生物活性的天然蒽醌类化合物，具有抗炎和抗癌特性，副作用最小或无副作用。此外，physcion 还表现出抗微生物和保肝的特性，而已知 PG 具有抗败血症以及改善痴呆症的活性。本综述旨在强调 physcion 和 PG 的天然来源和抗癌活性，以及​​相关的作用机制。在文献的基础上，physcion 和 PG 通过调节细胞周期的各种调节因子、蛋白激酶、microRNA、转录因子、和细胞凋亡相关的蛋白质导致在体外和体内有效杀死癌细胞。这两种化合物均能有效抑制转移，此外，physcion 可作为 6PGD 的抑制剂，并在化学增敏中起重要作用。这篇综述文章表明 physcion 和 PG 是有效的抗癌药物候选者，但必须对其作用机制和临床前试验进行进一步研究，以了解这些天然癌症杀手在抗癌疗法中的全部潜力。