The Indonesian archipelago is home to the second largest biodiversity in the world and is inhabited by more than 300 ethnic groups with a total population of more than 270 million. The indigenous population still rely on traditional medicine practices, especially the use of plant-based remedies. Although modern science-based exploration on Indonesian medicinal plants started with the European settlement in the archipelago in the 16th century, it was not until the 1970's that the phytochemistry of Indonesian medicinal plants was recognized for its potency. The need for new cancer cures to increase the quality of human life has led to the bioprospecting of medicinal plants including those of Indonesian origin. Despite published reports on the anticancer potency of Indonesian medicinal plants, to date there has been no comprehensive review on this topic. In this manuscript, we review the phytochemical and pharmacological studies on medicinal plants from Indonesia related to cancer therapy. Established databases (GARUDA, SciFinder, and PubMed) were used to collate data from 1990 to 2022, resulting in the description of 134 medicinal plants and their phytochemical and pharmacological properties including examples containing potent agents against breast, leukaemia, cervix, lung, and colon cancer cell lines based on in vitro bioassays and in vivo evaluation. These findings provide valuable insights into the bioprospecting of Indonesian medicinal plant providing directions for future studies, including the development of new therapeutics, both as botanicals or by using conventional dosage.
Turkey tail mushrooms (Trametes versicolor) is often seen in forests decomposing dead wood. However, this mushroom – called “yun zhi” in Chinese and “kawaratake” in Japanese – can support the immune system and help fight cancer. A group of researchers from Poland looked at turkey tail mushroom’s effect on breast cancer. In particular, they zoomed […]
Daucus carota, also known as wild carrot or Queen Anne’s lace, is a wildflower that grows in the summer. It belongs to the same family as the common garden carrot, and its root is said to smell like a carrot, too. But when you rub the leaves of Queen Anne’s lace between your fingers, people say that […]
Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women in the U.S., next only to skin cancer. Although breast cancer deaths have declined in recent years, it is still the second leading cause of [...]
Consuming broccoli can protect against liver cancer and stop the development of fatty liver in its tracks, according to a paper published in Oncology Research Featuring Preclinical and Clinical [...]
Many people are already aware of the bone-protective effects of vitamin D, but did you also know that the "sunlight nutrient" protects against cancer? Researchers from the German Cancer [...]
This study describes the isolation of bioactive compounds and their in vitro anticancer activities from Melia azedarach L leaves from Karanglor, Karangan, Karanganom Klaten, Central Java-Indonesia. Isolated and characterised were the phenolics, kaempferol 7-O-rutinoside 1 and 4-methoxyresorcinol 3, The anticancer activity of the crude methanol extract of M. azedarach against a number cell lines (LNCaP, MDA-MB-231, and MCF-7) was found to be moderate; kaempferol derivatives were notable for their antiproliferative activities. Computational analysis, including molecular docking simulations and molecular dynamic studies, were used to investigate the feasibility of radiolabelled versions of 1 and 3 as theranostic agents targeting tyrosine kinase-type cell surface receptor HER2 in cancer - the iodinated derivatives 2 and 4, respectively, were used in this investigation as surrogates. The corresponding radioiodinated 2 and 4 were found to have high binding affinities of 10.1 and 5.7 kcal/mol, respectively, and have a good stability on the receptor.
One of the active ingredients in a popular traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) protocol known as Dang Gui Long Hui Wan is powerfully efficacious against malignant brain tumors, a new study shows. [...]