Although conventional medicine, chemical drug synthesis and pharmaceutical research are advancing at a rapid pace, nature remains a major supplier of biological molecules. Natural bioactive compounds are studied closely especially as an alternative to the limitations of conventional therapy in many diseases, melanoma being one of them. Malignant melanoma is a highly aggressive type of cancer, and the current methods of treatment used are cryotherapy, external surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, photodynamic therapy, biological therapy, and targeted drug therapy. Unfortunately, these treatment methods are often inefficient, extremely expensive and cause many side effects, which is why focusing on melanoma chemoprevention and adjuvant therapy with natural herbal phytoconstituents is an emerging strategy to prevent, cure or treat melanoma. This review aims to examine the latest discoveries in terms of potential natural bioactive compounds that possess important activity against the development and spread of murine melanoma cancer. In particular, the use of different phytochemicals such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, anthocyanins, terpenoids, essential oils and carotenoids in vitro and in vivo models will be discussed. These data are helpful in guiding researchers in the direction of studying phytonutrients with important effects in the prevention and treatment of melanoma.
Keywords: bioactive compounds; in vitro; in vivo; malignant melanoma; phytotherapy.