cytotoxic activity screening of some medicinal plants from south of iran

background and objectives: cancer is a public health problem all over the world. herbal medicines have a vital role in the prevention and treatment of cancer and large numbers of plants and their isolated constituents have shown potential anticancer activity. methods: twenty seven medicinal plants from southern iran provinces have been extracted with methanol and screened for their cytotoxic activity against mcf-7, wehi-164, hepg-2, mdbk and a-549 cell lines by mtt assay. results: the methanol extracts of two species, calotropis procera andjuniperus excelsa, demonstrated to be more effective compared to other extracts. conclusion: the above species are proper candidates for further cancer studies.