North African Medicinal Plants Traditionally Used in Cancer Therapy

Abstract

Background: Cancer is a major cause of mortality worldwide with increasing numbers by the years. In North Africa, the number of cancer patients is alarming. Also shocking is that a huge number of cancer patients only have access to traditional medicines due to several factors, e.g., economic difficulties. In fact, medicinal plants are widely used for the treatment of several pathologies, including cancer. Truthfully, herbalists and botanists in North African countries prescribe several plants for cancer treatment. Despite the popularity and the potential of medicinal plants for the treatment of cancer, scientific evidence on their anticancer effects are still scarce for most of the described plants.Objective: Bearing in mind the lack of comprehensive and systematic studies, the aim of this review is to give an overview of studies, namely ethnobotanical surveys and experimental evidence of anticancer effects regarding medicinal plants used in North Africa for cancer therapy.Method: The research was conducted on several popular search engines including PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus and Web of Science. The research focused primarily on English written papers published between the years 2000 and 2016.Results: This review on plants traditionally used by herbalists in North Africa highlights that Morocco and Algeria are the countries with most surveys on the use of medicinal plants in folk medicine. Among the plethora of plants used, Nigella sativa and Trigonella foenum-graecum are the most referred ones by herbalists for the treatment of cancer. Moreover, a plethora of scientific evidence qualifies them as candidates for further drug development. Furthermore, we report on the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms.Conclusion: Overall, this review highlights the therapeutic potential of some medicinal plants as anticancer agents. The North African flora offers a rich source of medicinal plants for a wide array of diseases, including cancer. The elucidation of their modes of action represents an indispensable condition for the rational development of new drugs for cancer treatment. Furthermore, testing the anticancer activity in vivo and in clinical trials are warranted to explore the full therapeutic potential of North African plants for cancer therapy.

Ethnopharmacological Survey on Medicinal Plants Used by Traditional Healers in Central and Kara Regions of Togo for Antitumor and Chronic Wound Healing Effects

“…Aframomum melegueta, a frequent use species in our study for tumors and chronic wounds, is also a frequent use species for wounds in Ghana [26]. Compared to several ethnopharmacological surveys in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Morocco, and Algeria, our top 10 plants most cited are different from their results [15,28,30]. is may be due to the difference between flora and geographical characteristics and also knowledge of medicinal plants by healers.…”

“…ese surveys helped record local knowledge of healers and provided a database of plants used traditionally as anticancer plants for further preclinical and clinical studies. In Africa, most published data and ethnopharmacological surveys related to the anticancer potential of plants were from Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt, Madagascar, Morocco, Algeria, and Ethiopia [13][14][15][16]. In Togo, some ethnopharmacological surveys have been conducted but they have not focused on cancer [17][18][19][20][21].…”

Denksysteme und Medizinsysteme – von der Abbildung der Wirklichkeit in der Ethnomedizin

“…B. aus Borneo (Scurrula ferruginea, Dendrophthoe curvata und Macrosolen cochinchinensis) auf ihr antioxidatives und zytotoxisches Potenzial hin getestet [21]. Und in Ländern mit schwerer wirtschaftlicher Lage, aber wachsender Krebsinzidenz wie in Nordafrika oder Peru werden traditionell eingesetzte Heilpflanzen auf ihre antitumorale Wirkung untersucht [22,23].…”

Naturally Derived Formulations and Prospects towards Cancer

“…Now we have enough scientific reasons for using TM/CAM as a more effective therapy in comparison to conventional medicines. Apart from therapy some Indian and African communities, traditional medicines are thought to help clean out negative spiritual influences [39] and supporters of TM/CAM use them frequently as they are generally safe at common doses [40]. More than 3000 plants based secondary metabolite worldwide have been clinically reported to have anticancer properties [41] [42].…”