Synthesis and potent cytotoxic activity of a novel diosgenin derivative and its phytosomes against lung cancer cells

Diosgenin (Di), a steroidal sapogenin derived from plants, has been shown to exert anticancer effects in preclinical studies. Using Di as a starting material, various Di derivatives were designed and synthesized, aiming to discover new steroid-based antitumor agents. In this work, we synthesized several Di derivatives and screened FZU-0021-194-P2 (P2), which showed more potent cytotoxic activities against human non-small-cell lung cancer A549...