Abstract. The present review gives an outline of some oncopharmacological projects focused on the characterization of plant-derived natural products, conducted at the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Medical University of Sofia. These include collaborative phytochemical/pharmacological studies of a) alkaloids, b) saponines with immunomodulatory and anti-cancer effects; c) cytotoxic lignans; iii) phenolic compounds (acylphloroglucinols, benzophenones, xanthones) from Hypericum spp.  iv) various volatiles and crude extracts.