The use of medicinal plants for combating breast cancer: A comprehensive review

Abstract

Breast carcinoma is a common illness among females. Various therapies, including hormone therapy, surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and targeted treatment, have been available to treat existing breast cancer. These therapies can potentially halt the development and spread of cancer, especially if the disease is at an early stage, but all these treatments have various adverse effects on human health. Cancer cells proliferate more rapidly than most normal cells, so chemotherapy is the most suitable treatment. Certain medications can cease dividing cells by destroying the cell's control center region. Other drugs can inhibit the chemical processes essential for cell division. On the contrary, because cancer is frequently identified at a late phase, treating the disease is extraordinarily challenging. Therefore, it is advisable to avoid this fatal condition from occurring. Multiple studies have revealed a continuous inverse connection between cancer and natural materials, such as plant extracts, their fractions, and active principles. These bioactive phytochemicals' have synergistic or cumulative effects in the treatment of cancer disease. This review article examined the effect of various extracts/fractions/active principles obtained from diverse plant origins against breast cancer disease. Information regarding the most commonly used plants, including Alpina galaga, Urtica dioica, Annona muricata, Rosmarinus officinalis, Ficus carica, Nigella sativa, Murraya koenigii, and Urtica dioica have been presented in this study. Owing to the information in this study, these plants exhibited anticancer activities in preclinical MCF-7 carcinoma models by decreasing cell proliferation, inducing programmed cell death, and triggering cell-cycle arrest. The information generated from this review will significantly contribute to developing knowledge of the scientific and medical communities in developing innovative breast cancer treatments.