A number of compounds extracted from plants have cert ain physiological and pharmacological activity.Some of these compounds had been proved to have the ability to induce tumor cell apoptosis and demonstrated antitumor activity depending on their chemical structures.This review focuses on recent progress in the studies about the mechanism of tumor cell apoptosis induced by plant extracts including alkaloids,terpenes and lignans.

Aim Organotin compounds are important organometallic chemicals with a variety of technical applications.Of these compounds,the trialkyltins,especially tributyltin,triphenyltin and trimethyltin,have been proved to have the distinct ability to induce tumor cell apoptosis and significant antitumor activity.They can induce tumor cell apoptosis through Fas receptor,mitochondrial,Ca 2+,MAPKs,p53,NF-?B and caspase/p38/ROS pathway.This paper reviewed recent progress in the studies on signal transduction in tumor cell apoptosis induced by trialkyltin compounds.