Botanical breakthroughs: The growing impact of plant-derived compounds in cancer treatment

Abstract Growing evidence of phytochemicals’ diverse biological activity and advantageous safety profiles is fueling a renewed interest in them as anticancer treatments. About half of the anticancer medications that were approved between 1940 and 2014 came from natural sources or their derivatives. With an emphasis on their mechanisms of action, clinical significance, and difficulties in therapeutic translation, this review provides an integrated examination of important plant-derived anticancer drugs, such as vinca alkaloids, taxanes, camptothecin, and podophyllotoxin. These substances target both proliferative and resistant cancer phenotypes by altering vital cellular functions as microtubule dynamics, topoisomerase inhibition, and apoptotic signaling cascades. This review also categorizes phytochemicals according to their pharmacological effects and molecular targets, emphasizing their function in blocking angiogenesis, survival pathways, and metastasis. To highlight the promise of fusing traditional plant knowledge with contemporary technical advancements for efficient cancer care, emerging developments including nanoparticle delivery systems, molecular imaging integration, and synergistic botanical formulations are further investigated.