Role of botanical weapon for controlling cancer-an update

Chalannavar, Raju K. and Swathi, Swathi and Malabadi, Ravindra B. and Divakar, MS and Komalakshi, KV and Angitha, B and Kamble, Avinash A. and Karamchand, Kishore S. and Kolkar, Kiran P. and Munhoz, Antonia Neidilê Ribeiro (2025) Role of botanical weapon for controlling cancer-an update. World Journal of Biology Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 21 (3). pp. 335-360. ISSN 2582-5542

Cancer is a leading cause of death and a vital health care challenge in the world. Men are mostly affected by skin cancer, liver cancer, blood cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, rectum, and prostate cancer. Women are mostly affected by cervical, blood, liver, skin, breast, colon, rectal and stomach cancer. Oncology is the study of cancer. An oncologist is a doctor who treats cancer and provides medical care for a person diagnosed with cancer. An oncologist may also be called a cancer specialist. Cancer is the abnormal, uncontrolled division of cells in the body. The cancer cells when malignant, invade various parts of the body through the bloodstream and still remains an aggressive killer worldwide. However, adverse side effects of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, surgery, and stem cell therapy has some negative effects on the patient suffering from cancer. Medicinal plants could also possess effective anticancer compounds that may be used as adjuvant to existing chemotherapy to improve efficacy and/or reduce drug-induced toxicity; such as chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting to improve patients’ quality of life. Plant-derived anticancer agents are effective cancer inhibitors. Herbal medication offers very reasonable alternate to modern medicine against cancer. However, majority of plant extracts have been researched for cancer prevention rather than treatment, resulting in low efficacy and uptake in practice. Hence there is possible way to reduce the process of carcinogenesis with regular use of these plants along with a healthy lifestyle.