The lamellarins, a group of natural pyrrole alkaloids with interesting anticancer activities, were firstly isolated from a prosobranch mollus Lamellaria sp.. Due to their multidrug resistance (MDR) reversal in some cancer cell lines, total synthesis and structure modifications of lamellarins to provide drug candidates for the treatment of cancer have become one of the most promising project in the area of novel anticancer drug discovery. In this article, the latest results and progresses regarding the synthesis and modification of lamellarins are reviewed.

Key words: anticancer, synthes, lamellarin