Exploring the Multifaceted Role of Marine Polysaccharides for the Management of Cancer

Cancer stands as a predominant cause of mortality across diverse global contexts, spanning both developed and developing nations alike. The average life expectancy has increased globally, which has led to serious health issues and increased burdens on public healthcare systems across the globe. Cancer can be treated using a variety of approaches, based on the type and phase of the illness, including immunotherapy, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery. Since current anticancer medications have proven ineffective due to malignant cell resistance, restricted clinical use owing to metabolic instability, lack of efficacy, off-target toxicity, or poor pharmacokinetics, considerable efforts have been undertaken in recent years to find novel anticancer treatments. The creation of anti-cancer medications generated from natural sources is receiving more and more scientific attention since natural substances have fewer negative effects than chemotherapy drugs. Using multiple carcinoma cell lines from human and other sources, natural compounds originating from marine sources have been evaluated for their anticancer efficacy in recent decades; some of them have already been licensed for clinical use, while others are currently undergoing testing. Researchers have chosen polysaccharides over others due to their safety and positive effects. Many marine species, including plants, animals, and algae, can be found in the water. These creatures can yield a variety of marine polysaccharides with beneficial physicochemical and biological properties. There have been numerous reports of anticancer and cancer-prevention activities found in polysaccharides derived from marine sources and their equivalents. Carrageenan, fucoidan, chitosan, and alginate have all been the subject of much investigation in the pharmaceutical and biomedical industries because of their desirable qualities, which include bioactivity, biodegradability, and biocompatibility. With structural and toxicological characteristics that set them apart from one another, these compounds display fascinating actions and distinct mechanisms of action. Both people and animals can have their immune systems modulated by polysaccharides found in seaweeds and marine microalgae. These polysaccharides may also have anticoagulant, antioxidant, hypoglycaemic, antiviral, and anticancer properties. Marine polysaccharides have been demonstrated to offer a number of medicinal advantages, such as preventing inflammation, cancer, and viral infections. The biodegradable, biocompatible, non-toxic, and cost-effective nature of marine polysaccharides makes them a great source of raw materials for increasingly complex drug delivery systems (DDSs) with potentially controlled release. This chapter will discuss the role of marine polysaccharides in the development of anticancer drugs.