Cancer will be the major cause of death in the 21st century and natural products should provide novel and more effective anticancer agents. This review deals with new natural molecules liable to become anticancer drugs, as well as recent specific strategies for a selective treatment of cancer. The introduction presents the current state of the art on anticancer research. Beside, in the following subheadings we summarize our research on cytotoxic natural quinone methide-triperpenes and their analogues. We also discuss our results on the anti-tumour promoting activity of natural naphthoquinones and their derivatives. © 2004 Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.