PHYTORESOURCES AS POTENTIAL THERAPEUTIC AGENTS FOR CANCER TREATMENT AND PREVENTION

Abstract

Cancer is the second leading cause of death, where one in four deaths is due to cancer. It has been regarded mainly as group of diseases afflicting more developed and dveloping countries. The incidence of various forms of cancer is now rapidly rising world wide. Population rise, inadequate supply of drugs, prohibitive cost of treatments, sideeffects of several allopathic drugs and develoment of resistance to currently used drugs for diseases have led to increased emphasis on the use of plant materials as a source of medicines for a wide variety of human ailments. As such herbal remedies have been used to cure cancer. The use of plant products in the treatment of cancer has been of recent interest. In the present review-medicinal plants, the promising sources for biologically active compounds having anticancer properties, the goals of using them as sources of therapeutic agents and their role in the discovery of leads for the development of conventional drugs for thetreatment of cancer are reviewed. The use of plant drugs is increasing , it is obvious that an increased use of plant drugs will be followed in the future. India inherited long lasting system of medicne ‘Ayurveda’ where plant products are utilized as remedies for various diseases and disorders. The enrichment of these health care measures and scientific studies on the derivation of drugs through bioprospecting and systematic conservation of the medicinal plants are thus of great importance.