A Review on Plant and Plant Derived Compounds as Anti-Cancer Agents

Cancer is the cause of death all over the world and the number of deaths due to cancer has been increasing at a very high rate and it has become a global threat. The causes of cancer may be environmental or genetic or other prolonged diseases. There are several medicines available in the market to treat the various types of cancer, but no drug is found to be fully effective and safe. The major problems in the cancer chemotherapy is the toxicity of the established drugs. However, plants and plant derived products have proved effective and safe in the treatment and management of cancer. These days, most of the research work on cancer drugs is targeted on plants and plant derived natural products. Many natural products and their analogues have been identified as potential anti-cancer agents and day by day, the anti-cancer property of various plants is being identified. Here, an attempt is made to review and analyse some of the plants and their products to look into their anti-cancer activities by targeting the inhibition of the mode of development of cancer cells and their effect on normal cells.