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Cancer, Hypoxia, and Metabolism / Cancer Research and Treatments · Journal article
Frontiers in Pharmacology · August 18, 2026
Raises a question worth testing. It does not answer one.
This is a narrative review identifying 33 natural compounds with preclinical activity against glycolytic pathways in ovarian cancer cells. The review synthesizes mechanistic data but explicitly notes the absence of clinical validation and bioavailability barriers, positioning these compounds as exploratory leads rather than established therapies.
Narrative literature review. Ovarian cancer cells and tumor microenvironment (preclinical models); no clinical population studied.. Intervention: Review of 33 natural compounds targeting glycolysis and tumor microenvironment in ovarian cancer.
33 natural compounds identified that target glycolysis in ovarian cancer through multiple mechanisms: glucose uptake inhibition, PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway downregulation, and suppression of glycolytic enzymes (HK2, PFK, PKM2, LDHA) Compounds reduce lactate production and reshape the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in preclinical models Clinical translation limited by inefficient extraction, low bioavailability, incomplete mechanistic characterization, and lack of clinical validation
Bioavailability, pharmacokinetics, and safety data for natural compounds are not presented.
This review does not yet provide evidence to guide clinical practice. It outlines a potential therapeutic strategy and identifies compounds warranting further development, but emphasizes that clinical validation is absent and bioavailability remains a major barrier.
This is a narrative review summarizing preclinical mechanistic evidence from 33 natural compounds; it raises therapeutic questions rather than testing them in humans or providing clinical evidence of efficacy.
As stated by the source record.
Quoted from the source exactly as published.
This review does not yet provide evidence to guide clinical practice. It outlines a potential therapeutic strategy and identifies compounds warranting further development, but emphasizes that clinical validation is absent and bioavailability remains a major barrier.
Graded across the dimensions that decide whether you should act, each from what the source actually supports. There is no single score, and where a dimension was not assessed it says so.
Ovarian cancer (OC) cells promote rapid proliferation via aerobic glycolysis and build an immunosuppressive microenvironment at the same time; therefore, this glycolytic pathway is now a potential drug target. Existing glycolysis inhibitors are limited by off-target toxicity, drug resistance, and variable efficacy across tumor subtypes. Natural compounds offer an alternative by modulating multiple glycolytic nodes, lowering lactate production, and reshaping the tumor microenvironment (TME). Therefore, this review summarizes 33 natural compounds that target glycolysis in OC. Their mechanisms of action focus on inhibiting glucose uptake, downregulating the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway, suppressing the activities of glycolytic enzymes (HK2, PFK, PKM2, and LDHA) and HIF-1α transcription, reducing lactate production, ameliorating the TME, and ultimately inhibiting OC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, thereby demonstrating the potential for developing novel anti-OC drugs. Clinical translation is still limited by inefficient extraction, low bioavailability, incomplete mechanistic characterization and a lack of clinical validation. Based on the current evidence and the aforementioned bottlenecks, this review offers a development path for natural glycolysis inhibitors in precision anti-OC therapy.
Taken from the source record, never inferred. Follow any of these and new work involving them reaches your briefing.