4.5.3. Anticancer Activity

Actually, cancer is one of the principal causes of death around the world, thus, finding new treatments for this disease is a big challenge. Some studies have linked the anticancer capacity of a certain algae with the content of compounds with antioxidant properties.

Most studies of anticancer properties in algae have been performed on microalga extracts or fractions obtained using low-resolution methods (liquid–liquid extraction, solid–liquid extraction) [59].

Extracts from algae *Bryopsis* sp. contain some compounds (depsipeptides kahalalide A and F) whose future seems to lie with the development of kahalalide F for treatment of lung cancer, tumors, and AIDS. This is due to the fact that kahalalide F has anticancer properties, namely the control of tumors causing colon, lung and prostate cancer [58]. It happens the same with chondriamide A, a compound obtained from *Chondria atropurpurea* that presents antiproliferative activity towards human nasopharyngeal and colorectal cancer cells [60].

Other compounds present in algae, such as several polysaccharides with sulfur groups—e.g., fucoids—have also shown cytotoxic properties [78]. Another example are terpenes. A study carried out using *Chlorella sorokiniana* and *Chaetoceros calcitrans* extracts concluded than they present interesting activities compared to commercially available marine anti-cancer drugs [59]. *L. papillosa* algae was also studied and the conclusion was that it contains some bioactive compounds that could serve as a promising potential antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anticancer agents [56].
