genus as a source for anti-leukemia compounds: an overview from 1984 to 2020.

is a widely explored genus due to its chemical diversity and associated biological properties; in addition, it represents an important source for cytotoxic compounds with good application perspectives. Based on these aspects, in this review, compounds that presented activity against human leukemia cell lines are being listed and discussed. For this, a careful bibliographic survey was carried out in the main electronic databases, i.e. Scopus, SciFinder, Web of Science and Pubmed. Between 1984 and 2020, thirty seven original papers were selected, when using the search terms and leukemia. The occurrence of l-asparaginase produced by some spp. was also highlighted since this enzyme is being employed for acute lymphoblastic leukemia and lymphosarcoma therapies. Therefore, this overview aims to demonstrate the potential of metabolites biosynthesized by fungi which can be applied in human leukemia therapies and opportunities for designing new lead compounds.