‘Phytochemical and mechanistic insights of medicinal plants with documented anticancer potential: an integrative review’

Cancer remains a leading cause of mortality worldwide, driving the continuous search for safer and more effective therapeutic agents. Medicinal plants represent a rich source of bioactive compounds with significant anticancer potential. The present review provides a comprehensive overview of ten selectively chosen medicinal plants – Allium sativum, Solanum nigrum, Curcuma longa, Brassica oleracea, Salvia officinalis, Podophyllum hexandrum, Hedyotis diffusa, Scutellaria barbata, Tinospora cordifolia, and Withania somnifera – based on their traditional use, phytochemical richness, and extensive experimental validation of their anticancer efficacy. The major active constituents, including allicin, syringic acid, curcumin, sulforaphane, rosmarinic acid, podophyllotoxin, anthraquinones, scutellarein, palmatine, and withaferin A, exhibit multifaceted anticancer mechanisms, such as apoptosis induction, cell cycle arrest, inhibition of angiogenesis, and the modulation of key signaling pathways including the NF-κB, PI3K/Akt/mTOR, MAPK, and p53. These phytoconstituents target diverse cancer types, including breast, colon, lung, gastric, cervical and osteosarcoma models, through molecular mechanisms validated in vitro and in vivo. This review highlights the therapeutic potential of these plants as potential leads for anticancer drug development and emphasizes the need for further translational studies to validate their efficacy, safety, and synergistic potential in clinical settings.