International Journal of Botany Studies 144 International Journal of Botany Studies ISSN: 2455-541X; Impact Factor: RJIF 5.12 Received: 13-04-2019; Accepted: 15-05-2019 www.botanyjournals.com Volume 4; Issue 4; July 2019; Page No. 144-150 A comprehensive review on anti-cancer medicinal plants Farah Abid 1 , Muhammad Saleem 2 , Sara Zahid 3 , Shumaila Arshad 4 , Saleha Yasir 5 , Mehwish Qayyum 6 , Kanwal Ashiq 7 , Samreen Tanveer 8* , MayydaAsif Bajwa 9 , Sana Ashiq 10 1-5 Faculty of Pharmacy, the University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan 4 Riphah Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Riphah international University, Islamabad, Pakistan 6-9 Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Superior University 17-km Raiwind Road Lahore, Pa Comprehensive Review on Anti- Cancer Medicinal, Pakistan 10 Sharif Medical and Dental College Lahore, Pakistan Abstract Cancer is a major health concern and one of the leading causes of death around the globe. Medicinal plants contain numerous phytochemicals and their usefulness for the treatment of cancer has been proven scientifically. The current review is aimed to provide a comprehensive knowledge about the herbal plants with established anti-cancer activity. For this study, different databases were used, including: PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus and MEDLINE and literature search were done without any year limit. Studies have reported that numerous classes of phytochemicals have tumor inhibitory effect and these could be used for the cure of cancer. In this era, where the drug development process and its subsequent marketing and surveillance often take decades, the emerging evidence of the beneficial anti-cancer properties of plants have proved to be a mercy. There is need to explore more about the mechanism of action of phytochemicals having anti-cancer properties and further to ensure the medicinal plants safety and efficacy to justify their rational use for the treatment and management of the cancer. Keywords: cancer, chemotherapy, medicinal plants, phytochemicals, tumor 1. Introduction Cancer has been designated worldwide as a second leading cause of death. The prognosis of cancer, despite concerted efforts in innovating and improving current cancer therapies, remains dismal.In Asiatic countries, there is an ongoing increase in the progression of breast cancer and it has become one of the prominent causes of death. Annually, about 3 million new cancer cases are recorded and sofar more than 2 million deaths due to cancers have been reported only in Asia [1] . A limited or sporadic response has been associated with highly specific blockage of the single signaling pathway. Thus, a new paradigm for anticancer therapy that targets multiple signaling pathways has emerged by using targeted therapies [2] . Over the last decade, a significant change in the treatment of cancer has been viewed owning to the emergence of small molecule inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies, together which are termed as Targeted Therapies. These therapies have taken an integral place in the treatment of a wide array of common malignancies, including pancreatic, colorectal, lung and breast cancers. Despite the fact that targeted therapies are associated with several adverse effects including cardiac dysfunction, thrombosis and hypertension, they are well tolerated than cytotoxic chemotherapy which is the reason for paving the replacement of this hallmark of medical treatment of cancer with new targeted therapies [3] . Moreover chemotherapy used in treatment of breast cancer can lead to renal failure which is associated with variety of comorbid conditions [4] . In the past few years, an upward trend was seen in health burden due to prevalence of these comorbid conditions. This is in turn has adversely affected the quality of patient’s life [5] . Two major factors that determine the success as well as the effectiveness of a targeted therapy is firstly the target’s nature and secondly, the targeting characteristics of the agent developed to focus the identified target [6] . Nonetheless, to arrest the insidious nature of this dreadful disease one should not merely focus on targeted therapies as they too are embodied with severe side effects. Growing evidence has revealed that the use of folk medicine plant preparations provides a suitable alternative for rationalized allopathic drugs. In recent years, the anti-tumor actions of various phytochemicals have been thoroughly investigated and being increasingly used as therapeutic agents as they are capable to produce different pharmacological effects in living organisms [7] . Hoping for a better cure options, more and more patients together with medical health personnel are turning towards complementary and alternative traditional healthcare systems. Cancer is a debilitating disease characterized by the formation of lumps and masses of tissues referred to as tumors which are formed due to uncontrollable division of damaged cells. The normal physiology of circulatory, nervous and digestive system is compromised and disrupted by the uncontrolled tumor growth. Benign tumors tend to demonstrate limited growth and characteristically stay located in one spot. On the other hand, the dangerous malignant tumors show invasion of distant tissues, by moving through blood and lymphatic systems from their primary genesis location and also promote angiogenesis. These metastasized tumors create dangerous circumstances with very narrow therapeutic options [8] . Among various causes of cancer, nanoparticles toxicity is one of the major causes of genetic mutations that can prove to be