Anticancer Plants: Clinical Trials and Nanotechnology

Description

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in human beings. Though several synthetic medicines are used to treat cancer, they are largely inefficient and unsafe. In contrast, plants, which have been used for medicinal purposes since time immemorial, have proved to be useful in fighting cancer, with natural compounds from plants and their derivatives offering safe and effective treatment and management for several types of cancer. Plants such as Catharanthus roseus, Podophyllum peltatum, Taxus brevifolia, Camptotheca acuminate, Andrographis paniculata, Crateva nurvala, Croton tonkinensis, Oplopanax horridus etc., are important source of chemotherapeutic compounds. These plants have proven their value in the treatment of cancer and various other infectious diseases, and several common anticancer compounds such as taxol, podophyllotoxins, camptothecin, vinblastine, vincristine, homoharringtonine etc. have been isolated and purified from these medicinal plants. Unfortunately, many of these anticancer plants have become endangered due to ruthless and irresponsible harvesting practices. Hence, there is a need to conserve these species and to propagate them on a large scale using plant tissue culture. Alternatively, plant cell tissue and organ culture biotechnology could be adopted to produce these anticancer compounds without the need for cultivation. A better grasp and continuing exploration of these isolated molecules and products could provide a powerful alternative means of reducing cancer risk. “Anticancer Plants: Volume 3, Clinical Trials and Nanotechnology” provides a timely review of concepts and experimental data on the application of anticancer plants and their compounds in clinical trials, and on the use of nanotechnology in cancer therapy. Front Matter ....Pages i-xiv Cancer Therapies: Current Scenario, Management, and Safety Aspects (Shivaswamy Santosh, Manasa Deepa Rajagopalan, Bangalore Acharlu Pallavi, Gudepalya Renukaiah Rudramurthy, Valluru Rajashekar, Katta Annaiah Sridhar et al.)....Pages 1-25 Nano-natural Products as Anticancer Agents (Atish Tulshiram Paul, Anil Jindal)....Pages 27-50 Natural Anticancer Compounds and Their Derivatives in Clinical Trials (Veerabhadrappa Bhavana, Setra Janardhana Shetty Sudharshan, Dyavaiah Madhu)....Pages 51-104 Insight Approaches of Medicinal Plants for the Discovery of Anticancer Drugs (Diana Cláudia Gouveia Alves Pinto, Ana Maria Loureiro Seca, Artur Manuel Soares Silva)....Pages 105-151 Designing of Natural Anticancerous Drugs and Their Delivery System (Manisha Singh, Rashi Rajput, Ramneek Kaur, Sachin Kumar, Rachana)....Pages 153-180 Applications of Nano-based Novel Drug Delivery Systems in Herbal Medicine-Mediated Cancer Therapy (Saumya Srivastava, Anjana Pandey)....Pages 181-201 Toxicological and Pharmacological Use of Anticancer Compounds (Charles Gnanaraj, Sivapragasam Gothai, Katyakyini Muniandy, Rengarajan Thamaraiselvan, Palanisamy Arulselvan)....Pages 203-231 Recent Advancements in the Clinical Evaluation of Plant-Derived Anticancer Compounds (Jayabalan Shilpha, Lakkakula Satish, Manikandan Ramesh)....Pages 233-252 Organosulfur Compounds of Garlic as Potent Chemotherapeutic Agents Against Cancer (Irfan Ahmad Ansari, Imran Khan, Mohd Salman Khan, Mohd Sayeed Akhtar)....Pages 253-272 Relevance of Traditional Unani (Greco-Arab) System of Medicine in Cancer: An Update (Mohd Kashif Husain, Mohd Khalid, Goli Penchala Pratap, Munnawar Husain Kazmi)....Pages 273-302 Signaling Pathways of Anticancer Plants: Action and Reaction (Bilal Ahmad, Mohd Irfan Naikoo, Hassan Jaleel, Asfia Shabbir, Farha Rehman, Yawar Sadiq et al.)....Pages 303-322