An Overview of Anticancer Herbal Medicines

Abstract

The use of medicinal plants to help sustain good health and vitality and to reduce inflammation has an ancient and respected history. Approximately 38% of American adults are using some form of complementary and alternative medicine, resulting in $ 34 billion dollars spent annually. Herbal medicine compositions offer a potential advantage in that they usually comprise multiple components that interact and act simultaneously through multiple molecular targets and signaling pathways. These complex and often synergistic botanicals may also decrease toxicity and increase bioavailability and offer potential as strategies for cancer management. The quality and content of the active supplement depends on collection, processing and composition of the raw material and extraction procedures. In addition, despite evidence for usefulness of complex mixtures in cell culture and pre-clinical animal models, there is no formal regulation of natural supplements by the United States Food and Drug Administration, however, which creates conflict in the medical community, resulting in reluctance to recommend the use of herbals and alternative medicines for patient care. Clinicians should be aware of these alternatives given their future potential in oncology and a potential role in treatment when standard medical cures and treatment have been attempted and there are no clinical trials available to patients with advanced disease. Further investigation and clinical trials should focus on natural herbs and medicines in the chemo-prevention of chronic diseases and certain cancers. The advantages and limitations of potential use of various natural products into mainstream medical practice are discussed.