Abstract: Since it was found that Camptotheca acuminata Dencne contains camptothecin with anti-cancer mechanism,scientists have done a great of works on C.acuminata and camptothecin research.On C.acuminata the research focused on the tree's growth characteristic,the distribution and content of camptothecin in the different organs,some environmental factors' effect on the material's camptothecin content,the techniques of micropropagation,suspension culture and others.The results showed that it was an effective way to supply high camptothecin content material by harvesting young branch.At the same time,more attention has been paid on techniques for camptothecin extraction,molecular structure of camptothecin,the relationship between the structure and the effect of anti-cancer activity.Artificial synthesizing has been made great progress, but levo-camptothecin still has not been synthesized.Three generations of medicines based on camptothecin and its analogs have been developed,clinic trials also made great progress.All these aspects are reviewed in this paper.The authors also pointed out the future researching fields.

Key words: Camptotheca acuminata Decne, Camptothecin, Anticancer, Development and utilization, Cultivation