What Has Come out from Phytomedicines and Herbal Edibles for the Treatment of Cancer?

Abstract

Several modern treatment strategies have been adopted to combat cancer with the aim of minimizing toxicity. Medicinal plant-based compounds with the potential to treat cancer have been widely studied in preclinical research and have elicited many innovations in cutting-edge clinical research. In parallel, researchers have eagerly tried to decrease the toxicity of current chemotherapeutic agents either by combining them with herbals or in using herbals alone. The aim of this article is to present an update of medicinal plants and their bioactive compounds, or mere changes in the bioactive compounds, along with herbal edibles, which display efficacy against diverse cancer cells and in anticancer therapy. It describes the basic mechanism(s) of action of phytochemicals used either alone or in combination therapy with other phytochemicals or herbal edibles. This review also highlights the remarkable synergistic effects that arise between certain herbals and chemotherapeutic agents used in oncology. The anticancer phytochemicals used in clinical research are also described; furthermore, we discuss our own experience related to semisynthetic derivatives, which are developed based on phytochemicals. Overall, this compilation is intended to facilitate research and development projects on phytopharmaceuticals for successful anticancer drug discovery.

An In Vitro Estimation of the Cytotoxicity and Genotoxicity of Root Extract from Leonurus sibiricus L. Overexpressing AtPAP1 against Different Cancer Cell Lines

“…Medicinal plants, and the natural biologically-active compounds they contain, have played a significant role in drug discovery and offer potential for development as therapeutic agents [ 4 ]; however, of approximately more than 300,000 plant species reported, only a small percentage has been the subject of phytochemical and biological activity studies [ 5 ]. A great part of the pharmaceuticals available are still derived from natural sources, and there is growing world-wide interest in the use of phyto-pharmaceuticals in modern medicine [ 6 , 7 ]. In the past few years, considerable advancements have been made in the natural products endowed with antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic properties.…”

p62/SQSTM1/Keap1/NRF2 Axis Reduces Cancer Cells Death-Sensitivity in Response to Zn(II)–Curcumin Complex

“…As for the wtp53, Zn(II) can improve wtp53 binding to target gene promoters and increase the effect of anticancer drugs, in combination therapy experiments [22][23][24][25][26]. Many preclinical studies have highlighted the benefit of phytochemical compounds as anticancer agents, especially in combination with conventional anticancer drugs [27]. However, the use of the zinc-curcumin complex as an antitumor metal-based drug can face some limitations, since curcumin has been shown to induce NRF2 [28], as also demonstrated by our previous findings [13,29], and to reduce cancer cell death.…”

Phytochemical, in vitro Antioxidant and in vivo Safety Evaluation of Leaf Extracts of Tragia plukenetii

“…Severe adverse effects, higher cost, insufficiency and ineffectiveness of many allopathic drugs have led the researchers to focus more on herbal medicines to combat many diseases including neurological diseases. 1 Oxidative stress owing to the imbalance between Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) generation and innate antioxidant defense mechanism in our body plays an imperative role in numerous diseases including Alzheimer's, 2 cancer, 3,4 Parkinson's disease, 5 diabetes, 6 acute lung injury, 7 cataracts and cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis and hypertension. 8 The detailed mechanisms of cellular damage mediated through ROS and preventive pathways are well documented in the literature.…”

“…10,11 Recently, phytomedicines are in huge demand in the developed and the developing world, as they could able to combat many diseases. 4 These phytomedicines provide an excellent contribution to modern therapeutics with potential…”