''Camptotheca'' (happy tree, cancer tree, or tree of life) is a genus of medium-sized

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s growing to tall, native to southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and Tibet. The genus is usually included in the

tupelo Tupelo , genus ''Nyssa'' , is a small genus of deciduous trees with alternate, simple leaves. It is sometimes included in the subfamily Nyssoideae of the dogwood family, Cornaceae, but is placed by other authorities in the family Nyssaceae. In ...

family

Nyssaceae Nyssaceae is a family of flowering trees sometimes included in the dogwood family (Cornaceae). Nyssaceae is composed of 37 known species in the following five genera:Averyanov, L. V. & Hiep, N. T. (2002). ''Diplopanax vietnamensis'', a New Specie ...

, but sometimes included (with the tupelos) in the

dogwood ''Cornus'' is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous trees or shrub ...

family

Cornaceae The Cornaceae are a cosmopolitan family of flowering plants in the order Cornales. The family contains approximately 85 species in two genera, ''Alangium'' and ''Cornus''. They are mostly trees and shrubs, which may be deciduous or evergreen, alt ...

. The name "happy tree" is a direct translation of the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

name xǐ shù (

Simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one, that is simpler (usually shorter), for example * Simplification of algebraic expressions, ...

:喜树). There are two species: *''Camptotheca acuminata''

Decne Joseph Decaisne (7 March 1807 – 8 January 1882) was a French botanist and agronomist. He became an ''aide-naturaliste'' to Adrien-Henri de Jussieu (1797-1853), who served as the chair of rural botany. It was during this time that he began to stu ...

. *''

Camptotheca lowreyana ''Camptotheca'' (happy tree, cancer tree, or tree of life) is a genus of medium-sized deciduous trees growing to tall, native to southern China and Tibet. The genus is usually included in the tupelo family Nyssaceae, but sometimes included (wi ...

'' S.Y.Li The bark and stems of ''C. acuminata'' contain the

alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar ...

camptothecin Camptothecin (CPT) is a topoisomerase inhibitor. It was discovered in 1966 by M. E. Wall and M. C. Wani in systematic screening of natural products for anticancer drugs. It was isolated from the bark and stem of ''Camptotheca acuminata'' (Campt ...

. Several chemical

derivatives The derivative of a function is the rate of change of the function's output relative to its input value. Derivative may also refer to: In mathematics and economics * Brzozowski derivative in the theory of formal languages * Formal derivative, an ...

of camptothecin are under investigation for or used as drugs for cancer treatment, including

irinotecan Irinotecan, sold under the brand name Camptosar among others, is a medication used to treat colon cancer, and small cell lung cancer. For colon cancer it is used either alone or with fluorouracil. For small cell lung cancer it is used with cisp ...

topotecan Topotecan, sold under the brand name Hycamtin among others, is a chemotherapeutic agent medication that is a topoisomerase inhibitor. It is a synthetic, water-soluble analog of the natural chemical compound camptothecin. It is used in the form o ...

rubitecan Rubitecan ( INN, marketing name Orathecin) is an oral topoisomerase inhibitor, developed by SuperGen (now Astex Pharmaceuticals, Inc'.; a member of the Otsuka Group'). History On January 27, 2004, SuperGen announced that it has completed the subm ...

. ''C. acuminata'' also contains the chemical compounds

trifolin Trifolin is a chemical compound. It is the kaempferol 3-galactoside. It can be found in ''Camptotheca acuminata'', in '' Euphorbia condylocarpa'' or in '' Consolida oliveriana''. Kaempferol 3-O-galactosyltransferase is an enzyme that catalyzes th ...

and

hyperoside Hyperoside is a chemical compound. It is the 3-''O''-galactoside of quercetin. Natural occurrences Hyperoside has been isolated from ''Drosera rotundifolia'', from the Lamiaceae ''Stachys sp.'' and ''Prunella vulgaris'', from ''Rumex acetosella ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3274739 Nyssaceae Trees of China Cornales genera Taxa named by Joseph Decaisne