Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Dec 27;10(1):47.
doi: 10.3390/biom10010047.

Anticancer Plants: A Review of the Active Phytochemicals, Applications in Animal Models, and Regulatory Aspects

Tariq Khan  1 , Muhammad Ali  2 , Ajmal Khan  3 , Parveen Nisar  2 , Sohail Ahmad Jan  4 , Shakeeb Afridi  2 , Zabta Khan Shinwari  2   5
Affiliations
Review

Anticancer Plants: A Review of the Active Phytochemicals, Applications in Animal Models, and Regulatory Aspects

Tariq Khan et al. Biomolecules. .

Abstract

The rising burden of cancer worldwide calls for an alternative treatment solution. Herbal medicine provides a very feasible alternative to western medicine against cancer. This article reviews the selected plant species with active phytochemicals, the animal models used for these studies, and their regulatory aspects. This study is based on a meticulous literature review conducted through the search of relevant keywords in databases, Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Twenty plants were selected based on defined selection criteria for their potent anticancer compounds. The detailed analysis of the research studies revealed that plants play an indispensable role in fighting different cancers such as breast, stomach, oral, colon, lung, hepatic, cervical, and blood cancer cell lines. The in vitro studies showed cancer cell inhibition through DNA damage and activation of apoptosis-inducing enzymes by the secondary metabolites in the plant extracts. Studies that reported in vivo activities of these plants showed remarkable results in the inhibition of cancer in animal models. Further studies should be performed on exploring more plants, their active compounds, and the mechanism of anticancer actions for use as standard herbal medicine.

Keywords: apoptosis; cancer; cell lines; herbs; in vivo.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structural representation of important anticancer secondary metabolites from plants. The structures are adapted from NCBI cited as National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Database. (a) 2-Methylanthraquinone, Compound identification number (CID) = 6773; (b) albanol A, CID = 44567218; (c) artemisinin, CID = 68827; (d) baicalein, CID = 5281605; (e) berberine, CID = 2353; (f) curcumin, CID = 969516; (g) D-amygdalin, CID = 656516; (h) garcinol, CID = 5281560; (i) oblongifolin A CID = 53364454; (j) oridonin, CID = 5321010; (k) platycodin D, CID = 162859; (l) polyphyllin C, CID = 44429637; (m) scutellarein, CID = 5281697, and (n) triptolide, CID = 107985. (o) isoegomaketone, CID = 5318556; https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/ (accessed on 18 July 2019).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Illustration of activity of plants against several types of cancers. The icons were taken from Biorender illustrator and constructed through ChemBiodraw v14.0.
Figure 3
Figure 3
A depiction of general strategies applied for assaying extracts/phytochemicals from important medicinal plants for their anticancer activity both in vitro and in vivo.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bray F., Ferlay J., Soerjomataram I., Siegel R.L., Torre L.A., Jemal A. Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J. Clin. 2018;68:394–424. doi: 10.3322/caac.21492. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Karpuz M., Silindir-Gunay M., Ozer A.Y. Current and Future Approaches for Effective Cancer Imaging and Treatment. Cancer Biother. Radiopharm. 2018;33:39–51. doi: 10.1089/cbr.2017.2378. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Nobili S., Lippi D., Witort E., Donnini M., Bausi L., Mini E., Capaccioli S. Natural compounds for cancer treatment and prevention. Pharmacol. Res. 2009;59:365–378. doi: 10.1016/j.phrs.2009.01.017. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cheng H. Advanced Textbook on Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacology. New World Press; Beijing, China: 1995.
    1. Shehab N.G., Mahdy A., Khan S.A., Noureddin S.M. Chemical constituents and biological activities of Fagonia indica Burm F. Res. J. Med. Plant. 2011;5:531–546. doi: 10.3923/rjmp.2011.531.546. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources