Abstract Medicinal plants are an important source of diverse chemical compounds
that have been used for the past several centuries in the treatment of cancer. About
25% of drugs in the modern pharmacopoeia are derived from plants, including several
anticancer drugs currently in clinical use such as vincristine, vinblastine, paclitaxel,
podophyllotoxin, camptothecin and combretastatin.
These natural products, their derivatives and analogues based on these drugs constitute an arsenal against various types of neoplasms. The traditional use of plants provides a lead for cancer chemopreventive molecules. The development of new derivatives from bioactive
compounds of food origin has been a viable way to reduce toxicity and increase
their effectiveness against cancer.
The combined efforts of botanists, pharmacologists, chemists and biologists are required to discover new effective drugs to fight cancer. An evaluation of the mode of action of these bioactive molecules will be helpful in designing novel drugs targeting mitosis. This article discusses natural products currently in clinical use, and under clinical trials, for cancer chemotherapy and chemoprevention.
