POTENTIALS OF ANTI CANCER ACTIVITY OF SOME MEDICINAL PLANTS-AN UPDATE

Abstract

Siddha system of medicine was a fruitful gift of God sponsored through the great spiritual scientists called Siddhars. This system of medicine has been being practiced in South India from the ancient time. The unique nature of siddha system of medicine was a reverse pharmacology which paved a new way for new drug discovery in most of the complicating diseases including cancer. Cancer is a life threatening disease which continues to be a global burden, despite the advancement of various technological and pharmaceutical improvements over the past two decades. Methods for treating cancer include surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy in addition to other specialized techniques. On the other hand, medicinal plants have been traditionally employed either as the complementary medicine or dietary agents in the treatment and management of cancer. Medicinal plants are a rich source of secondary metabolites with interesting biological and pharmacological activities. Among these metabolites, glycosides are naturally occurring substances and have outstanding therapeutic potential and clinical utility. Thus, some of the medicinal plants containing affluent of glycosides to treat various kinds of cancers.