Exploring the Anticancer Potential of Spathodea campanulata, Ziziphus oenoplia, Blepharis maderaspatensis: A Bioactive Treasure for Future Therapeutics

Medicinal plants have a long served as a foundation for drug discovery, particularly in oncology, where natural bioactive compounds offer promising alternatives to conventional therapies. This review highlights the anticancer potential of three medicinally significant plants Spathodea campanulata, Ziziphus oenoplia and Blepharis maderaspatensis. Each exhibits divers ethnomedicinal uses and a rich phytochemical profile , including flavonoids , alkaloids , tannins terpenoids and phenolic acids which contribute to their pharmacological properties preclinical studies demonstrated their ability to induce apoptosis, arrest the cell cycle, modulate oxidative stress, suppress angiogenesis, and down regulate pro-inflammatory pathway across multiple cancer cell lines. Furthermore, their selective cytotoxicity toward tumor cells with minimal toxicity to normal cells underscores their therapeutic promise. By integrating traditional knowledge with modern pharmacological insights, this review emphasizes the need for further mechanistic studies, isolation of bioactive constituents, and clinical validation to establish these plants as potential candidates for anticancer drug development.