The parasites are repeatedly confronting their host to take advantage of nutrients for multiplication and survival. In this sense, a wide spectrum of molecules is released from both sides, with immune-regulatory activity, accompanying this biological battle. Such parasites and their valuable molecules can be directed toward microbial-based cancer therapy. Herein, we contrived a systematic review to gather information on the antitumor activity of parasite-derived compounds. Following systematic search in Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Scopus, PubMed, ProQuest and Embase until 31 December 2019, a total number of 51 articles (54 datasets) were finally included in this review. Thirteen parasitic agents were found to possess possible antitumor activity, comprising protozoan species Toxoplasma gondii, Trypanosoma cruzi, Trichomonas vaginalis, Acanthamoeba castellanii, Besnoitia jellisoni, Leishmania major, Plasmodium yoelii, and Plasmodium lophurae, as well as parasitic helminths Toxocara canis, Echinococcus granulosus, Taenia crassiceps, Trichinella spiralis, and Schistosoma mansoni. Most experiments were done based on antigenic preparations from T. gondii (16 studies), E. granulosus (10 studies), T. spiralis (8 studies), and T. cruzi (6 studies). Possible antitumor properties of the selected parasites were revealed in this review. However, precise molecular basis of anticancer activity for each parasite remains to be elucidated in the future.

Hydatid disease is a helminth infection with various clinical complications caused by the larval stage of the dog tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus. The scolicidal agents have been broadly applied for inactivation of the fertile cysts up to now, but these scolicidal agents have several side effects on patients. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the scolicidal activity of green synthesized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) utilizing mycelia-free culture filtrate of Penicillium aculeatum against hydatid cyst protoscolices of E. granulosus. The size and morphology of AuNPs were affirmed by UV–visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis. The Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis of AuNPs showed the presence of possible functional groups responsible for the bioreduction and capping. The AuNPs were formed relatively uniform with spherical shape and superior monodispersity with the average diameter of 60 nm. Consequently, various concentrations (0.05, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 mg/mL) of green synthesized AuNPs and different exposure times (10, 30, 60, and 120 min) were used against hydatid cyst protoscolices. Statistically, the difference between the scolicidal effects of AuNPs were seen extremely significant for all four concentrations and at various exposure times in comparison to the control group (P < 0.0001). The most mean protoscolex elimination ratio was 94% (0.3 mg/mL AuNPs and 120-min exposure time). The current investigation indicated that applying biogenic AuNPs may be considered as a potential scolicidal agent for cystic hydatid disease. However, further studies are required to evaluate the efficacy of AuNPs in vivo.