Arenobufagin, a representative natural bufadienolide compound, is the major active component extracted from toad venom. Arenobufagin is a part of Chinese medicine Chan'su. It possesses significant antineoplastic activity in vitro. Antineoplastic activity of arenobufagin was tested using cell lines from different cancers: breast cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, prostatic cancer, etc. Arenobufagin acts by intercalating with DNA and disrupting the cell cycle. Also it was shown to inhibit PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway (in hepatocellular carcinoma cells) and inhibit Na, K-ATPase.

Erastin is antitumor agent, exhibiting selectivity for tumor cells bearing oncogenic RAS. Erastin is a ferroptosis activator; it induces oxidative, non-apoptotic cell death in tumors by acting directly on voltage-dependent anion channel 2 (VDAC2).