VARIOUS MEDICINAL PLANTS USED IN THE TREATMENT OF ANTICANCER ACTIVITY

Cancer is a major public health burden in both developed and developing countries. It is actually a group of many related diseases that all have to do with cells. It is one of the major causes of death worldwide where the number of cancer patients is in continuous rise. It is a major public problem whose estimated worldwide new incidence is about 6 million cases per year. It is the second major cause of deaths after cardiovascular diseases. There is a constant demand for new therapies to treat and prevent this life-threatening disease. The plant kingdom produces naturally occurring secondary metabolites which are being investigated for their anticancer activities leading to the development of new clinical drugs. Worldwide effects are ongoing to identify new anticancer compounds from plants. In recent years owing to the fear of side effects people prefer more and more use of natural plant products for cancer. For these reasons, World Health Organization (WHO) supports the use of traditional medicines which are efficacious and non toxic. This review has tried to summarize few plants of India and out of India having anticancer activity.