Current Perspectives in the Application of Medicinal Plants Against Cancer: Novel Therapeutic Agents

Abstract

Background: Cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth and proliferation. It has become a major health problem in the past decades and is now the second leading cause of death globally. Although, there are different types of treatment such as chemotherapy, immune therapy, radiation, hormone therapy and targeted therapy used against cancer, they have possible side effects and significant deficiencies. Methods: This review aims to outline the benefits of medicinal plants and plant-derived products and highlight why they should be used as novel anti-cancer therapeutics. Electronic databases, including PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Cochrane library, and MedlinePlus were searched to summarize in vitro, in vivo and clinical studies on anticancer effects of medicinal plants and their bioactive compounds up-to-date. Results: In recent years, a number of medicinal plants have been administered to cancer patients in order to prevent and treat cancer as an alternative therapy. These plants were used because of their rich anticarcinogenic and chemoprotective potentials. In addition to these remarkable properties, these plants have less toxic anticancer, anti-tumor and anti-proliferation agents than traditional therapeutics. Nevertheless, only a small number of natural anti-tumor products including vinblastine, vincristine, podophyllotoxin, paclitaxel (Taxol) and camptothecin have been tested clinically, while vinflunine ditartrate, anhydrovinblastine, NK-611, tafluposide, paclitaxel poliglumex, combretastatins, salvicine, curcumin, indirubin, triptolide, homoharringtonine are still on trial. Conclusion: Consequently, more effective anticancer compounds are identified during the clinical trials; these natural products could be a key source of antitumor agents in modern anticancer therapy. It is expected that novel anticancer phytopharmaceuticals produced from medicinal plants could be effectively used in prevention and therapy for the cancers.

Cancer preventive and neuroprotective potentials of red hulls, kernels and oleo-gum resins from Pistachio

“…As previously reported, high antioxidant activity and rich polyphenolic content of the herbal extracts are known to be closely related to inhibit cancer and neurodegenerative diseases efficiently (Reddy et al, 2003;Tabatabaei-Malazy et al, 2013;Newman and Cragg, 2016;Roy et al, 2018;Gezici, 2019a;Gezici and Sekeroglu, 2019a). Terpenes and phenolic components are the main bioactive phytochemicals found in different parts of P. vera L. These components have been known to possess significant antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, and so they are probably responsible for preventing cancer, as demonstrated by previous researches (Rajaei et al, 2010;Bozorgi et al, 2013;Fathalizadeh et al, 2015;Das and Gezici, 2018;Seifaddinipour et al, 2018).…”

“…According to World Health Statistics reports, these diseases and disorders affect millions of people globally, and their incidence rates are expected to continue to increase rapidly for the following years. Currently, no effective therapy has still been revealed to fight cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, and thus dietary plants and their natural bioactive compounds offer extremely great opportunities for development effective treatment strategies (Newman and Cragg, 2016;Gezici, 2019a;Gezici and Sekeroglu, 2019a;WHO, 2019). Dietary medicinal plants (fruits, vegetables, spices, cereals, and edible tubers/roots) containing natural bioactive compounds such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, tannins, stilbenes, curcuminoids, resveratrol, lycopene, carotenoids, quercetin, catechin, naringenin, organosulfur, curcumin, genistein, isothiocyanates, capsaicin, gingerol, anthocyanins, coumarins, lignans, quinones, and others have been demonstrated to possess valuable health benefits beside basic nutrition (Das and Gezici, 2018;Guizani et al, 2018;Roy et al, 2018,).…”

Anticancer, Antiproliferative and Lactate Dehydrogenase Enzyme Activities of Different Parts of Acorn (Quercus coccifera L.) against A549, MCF-7 and HeLa Human Cancer Cells

“…Meyveleri insan ve hayvan gıdası olarak kullanılan kermes meşesinin farklı bitki kısımları yüzyıllardır çeşitli hastalıkların tedavisinde halk ilacı olarak kullanılmakta, bitkinin meyvelerinin; sahip olduğu antimikrobiyal, antiülser, antihelmintik, antiinflamatuvar ve antioksidan aktivitelerinden dolayı, Anadolu Halk Hekimliğinde hemoroit, şeker hastalığı ve böbrek taşı rahatsızlıklarında kullanıldığı belirtilmektedir (Akcan ve ark., 2017; Sohretoglu ve ark., 2007). Çeşitli tıbbi ve etnobotanik kullanımlarının yanı sıra palamut adı verilen meşe meyveleri kavrulup öğütüldükten sonra farklı aroması ile kahve şeklinde de tüketilmektedir (Gezici ve Sekeroglu, 2019a Karik ve ark., 2018;Sekeroglu ve ark., 2018;Senol ve ark., 2018;Gezici, 2018Gezici, , 2019Gezici ve Sekeroglu, 2019a;2019b;Shida ve ark., 2019), meşe palamudunun (Q. coccifera L.) dış kabuk, külah ve iç kısımlarından elde edilen ekstraktların toplam polifenolik içerikleri, in vitro antioksidan kapasiteleri ve nöroprotektif aktiviteleri de önceki çalışmalarımızda tespit edilmiştir (Senol ve ark., 2018;Gezici ve Sekeroglu, 2019b Davis (1982) Türkiye Florası'na göre yapılmış olup; bitki materyali Biyoloji Bölümü Herbaryum'unda saklanmaktadır.…”

Analysis and Identification of Active Compounds from Salviae miltiorrhizae Radix Toxic to HCT-116 Human Colon Cancer Cells

“…Apoptosis pathways are important targets in cancer-related therapies, and insufficient apoptosis results in uncontrolled cancer cell proliferation [7]. The use of natural phytochemicals for inhibiting cancer cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis contributes to promoting cancer cell death [8,9].…”