Anti-Cancer Effects of Animal Venoms; a Review Study

Cancer is one of the leading causes of human death in worldwide and imposes a huge economic burden on the health providing systems in countries. So today, researchers are looking for new anti-cancer drugs with more potency and fewer side effects. Worldwide, the development of anti-cancer drugs from natural resources is on the rise. Animal venom is one of the most important and valuable biological resources, and some scientists believe that it is one of the future hopes of humans to cure some incurable diseases, including cancer. These biological compounds include a variety of neurotoxins, enzymes, peptides, carbohydrates, minerals, and proteins with specific biological and chemical activities that have effective peptides such as hyaluronidases, phospholipases, sphingomyelinazes, cholinesterase, and alkaline phosphatase and so on. In fact, these biologic features make them an attractive issue in developing anti-cancer agents. In this study, animals who their venom have these biological characteristics have been studied.