Abstract
Cancer is one of the primary causes of mortality globally, and the discovery of new anticancer drugs is the most important need in recent times. Natural products have been recognized as effective in fight against various diseases including cancer for over 50 years. Plants and microbes are the primary and potential sources of natural compounds to fight against cancer. Moreover, researches in the field of plant-based natural compounds have moved towards advanced and molecular level understandings from the last few decades, leading to the development of potent anticancer agents. Also, plants have been accepted as abundant and prosperous sources for the development of novel therapeutic agents for the management and prevention of different cancer types. The high toxicity of some cancer chemotherapy drugs, as well as their unfavorable side effects and drugs resistance, drives up the demand for natural compounds as new anticancer drugs. In this detailed evidence-based mechanistic review, facts and information about various medicinal plants, their bioactive compounds with their potent anticancer activities against different cancers have been gathered, with further approach to represent the molecular mechanism behind the anticancer activity of these plants. This review will be beneficial for investigators/scientists globally involved in the development of natural, safe, effective, and economical therapeutic agents/drugs against various cancers. This might be an important contribution in the field of drug discovery, where drugs can be used alone or in combination to increase the efficacy of newly synthesized drugs.
Highlights
Metastasis is an intricate process comprising of multiple steps which begin with detachment, amassing, and motility of cancerous cells, resulted in attachment to endothelial cells followed with growth of cancer cells at specific sites [3, 4]
V. album is an excellent example of medicinal plant that acts as a link between conventional and alternative medicine
Medicinal plant-based natural bioactive compounds have played a significant role in human health
Summary
Irrespective of advancements in oncology, cancer is yet one of the life-threatening diseases throughout the world. Many have been shown to have anticancer properties; inhibiting cancer cell-related activating proteins, signaling pathways, and enzymes such as topoisomerase enzyme, cyclooxigenase, MMP, MAPK/ERK, TNK, Akt, cytokines, Bcl-2, PI3K, CDK4 kinases, CDK2, CDC2, mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), or by activating DNA repair mechanism [11, 18, 19]. Choosing these very specific plants, which are described in detail in this review along with their mode of action and possible mechanism, and could potentially be used in the management and prevention of cancer was the primary motivation. This review is intended to open up new avenues for the various kind of treatment/therapy of cancer, focusing on certain important medicinal plants and their important bioactive compounds that have been presented to target cancer cell-activating proteins, signaling pathways, and enzymes involved in cancer progression
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