Plants in Anticancer Drug Discovery: From Molecular Mechanism to Chemoprevention

Table 1

List of plants and their potent bioactive phytocompounds for the possible therapeutic use in prevention and management of various cancers.

Vegetal part and botanical name	Picture	Bioactive phytocompounds	Biological functions	Therapeutic effect against various cancers	References
Taxus chinensis (Pilger) Rehd (bark)		Paclitaxel (taxol)	Anticancer, antioxidant, and antiageing	Breast, liver, ovarian, colon, lung and esophageal cancer, lymphoma, childhood leukemia, melanoma	[20–22, 25, 26, 150]
Curcuma longa Linnaeus (rhizome)		Curcumin, demethoxycurcumin, bisdemethoxycurcumin, germacrone, furanodienone, zederone, and ar-turmerone	Anticancer, antiangiogenic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-HIV, antibacterial, and immunomodulatory	Colon, cervical, lung, thymic, brain, pancreatic, breast, bone cancers, and liver cancer	[34–37, 151]
Zingiber officinale roscoe (rhizome)		Phenolic and terpene	Anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immunomodulatory, antiangiogenic, and antibacterial	Colon cancer, ovarian cancer, and breast cancer	[41–43, 46, 152]
Camptotheca acuminata Decne (leaf, flower, stem, fruit, root)		Alkaloids, flavonoids, and glycosides	Anticancer, antivirus, antipsoriatic, antifungal, anti-inflammation, antibacterial, and antiparasitic	Lung and ovarian cancer	[48–50, 153]
Vinca rosea L. (Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don) (leaf)		Vinca alkaloids: vindesine, vincristine, vinorelbine, and vinblastine	Anticancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory	Lung cancer, breast cancer, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, leukemia, Kaposi sarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, follicular lymphoma, retinoblastoma, ovarian germ cell tumor, acute lymphoblastic leukemia rhabdomyosarcoma, testicular germ cell tumor	[54–56, 154]
Belamcanda chinensis L. DC. (root)		Flavonoids, terpenoids, organic acids, and quinones	Antitumor, antioxidant, antibacterial, antidiabetic, estrogen-like, hepatoprotective, and anti-inflammatory	Breast cancer, liver cancer, prostrate carcinoma, gastric carcinoma, T-cell leukemia	[61–63, 65, 155]
Cryptolepis sanguinolenta (Lindl.) Schltr. (leaf and root)		Alkaloids, flavones, and tannin	Anticancer, antibacterial, antiparasitic, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antidiabetic, and antioxidant	Lung cancer	[66, 67, 156]
Garcinia hanburryi hook (fruit, leaf, and seed)		Polyphenols, benzophenones, xanthones, and bioflavonoids	Anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antitumor, antifungal, antiulcer, antibacterial, antiviral.	Breast cancer, lung cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, prostate cancer, and gastric carcinoma.	[74–77, 157]
Psoralea corylifolia L. (Buguchi) (whole plant)		Psoralidin, meroterpenes, coumarins, and flavonoids	Anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antidepressant, antioxidant, and antipsoriatic.	Breast, prostate, and lung cancer	[81, 82, 84, 158]
Cimicifuga foetida L. (rhizome)		Phenylpropanoids, lignans, cycloartane triterpenoids, chromones, amides	Antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antimenopause, analgesic, antiosteoporosis, and antipyretic	Breast, prostate, and liver cancer	[88, 89, 93, 159]
Taxus baccata L. (leaf and bark)		Paclitaxel (taxol), taxusin, baccatin, taxoids viz., baccatin, taxine, lignans, phenols steroids, flavonoids	Anticancer, antimalarial, antirheumatic, abortifacient, anti-inflammatory antinociceptive, and septic shock	Kaposi’s sarcoma, breast, ovarian, and lung cancer	[94, 96, 97, 160]
Viscum Album L. (stem, leaf, and fruit)		Flavonoids, phenylpropanoids, alkaloids, proteins, triterpenes, steroids, lipophilic molecules, viscumneoside XII, XIII, XIV, lectins, and conjugated acetylene	Anticancer, antidiabetic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, sedative, antihypertensive, and hepatoprotective	Breast cancer and gynecological cancer	[101, 102, 109, 111, 161]
Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis (stem, bark, and fruit)		Geniposide, crocin, genipin, gardenoside, and iridiod	Anticancer, antidepression activity, antioxidant, hypoglycemic effect, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, improvement in the quality of sleep, antigastritis, antiarthritis, antihyperlipidemia	Brain tumor, oral cancer, liver cancer	[113, 114, 116, 162, 163]
Colchicum autumnale L. (bulb, flowers, and leave)		Colchicine	Anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and antiproliferative	Solid tumor, leukemia	[118, 119, 121, 164]
Salvia prionitis Hance (root)		Diterpenoid quinone, salvicine	Anticancer, antitumor, antimicrobial	Lung cancer and solid tumor	[122, 124, 127]
Raphanus sativus L. (root, stem, leaf)		Flavanoid, glucosinolates, folic acid, flavonoids, polyphenolics, dietary fiber, vitamin A and C	Anticancer, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory	Colon cancer and breast cancer	[128–131, 165]
Tinospora cordifolia (Willd.) Miers (bark, leaf, flower, and stem)		Polysaccharides, aliphatic compounds, phenolics, sesquiterpenoid, steroids, diterpenoid lactones, alkaloids, glycosides	Anticancer, antineoplastic, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, hypolipidemic, antiperiodic, antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiosteoporotic, antidiabetic, antiarthritic, antiallergic, and immunologic	Breast cancer and tumor	[132–137, 166]
Nigella sativa L. (seed)		Thymoquinone, dithymoquinone, and dihydrothymoquinone	Anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antioxidant, antibacterial, antiangiogenic, antidiabetic, and organ-protective	Breast cancer and tumor	[138–142, 167]