Cancer is the second leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although chemotherapy
and radiotherapy enhance the survival rate of cancerous patients but they have several acute
toxic effects. Therefore, there is a need to search for new anticancer agents having better efficacy and
lesser side effects. In this regard, herbal treatment is found to be a safe method for treating and preventing
cancer. Here, an attempt has been made to screen some less explored medicinal plants like
Ammania baccifera, Asclepias curassavica, Azadarichta indica, Butea monosperma, Croton tiglium,
Hedera nepalensis, Jatropha curcas, Momordica charantia, Moringa oleifera, Psidium guajava, etc.
having potent anticancer activity with minimum cytotoxic value (IC50 >3μM) and lesser or negligible
toxicity. They are rich in active phytochemicals with a wide range of drug targets. In this study, these
medicinal plants were evaluated for dose-dependent cytotoxicological studies via in vitro MTT assay
and in vivo tumor models along with some more plants which are reported to have IC50 value in the
range of 0.019-0.528 mg/ml. The findings indicate that these plants inhibit tumor growth by their antiproliferative,
pro-apoptotic, anti-metastatic and anti-angiogenic molecular targets. They are widely
used because of their easy availability, affordable price and having no or sometimes minimal side effects.
This review provides a baseline for the discovery of anticancer drugs from medicinal plants having
minimum cytotoxic value with minimal side effects and establishment of their analogues for the
welfare of mankind.
Medicinal Plants as Aphrodisiac Agents: A Current Status