A brief review of secondary plant metabolites as anticancer agents

Abstract

Plants have provided a source of medicine from the beginning of human history and are the core of modern medicine. Moreover, plant-based drug discovery has led to the development of various anticancer drugs (such as vincristine, vinblastine, etoposide, paclitaxel, camptothecin, topotecan and irinotecan). The use of botanical, photochemical, biological and molecular techniques have facilitated the discovery of novel secondary metabolites from native and indigenous plants that can inhibit the human topoisomerase II enzyme (target for anticancer drugs) and kill cancer cells. Therefore, the aim of this review was to further investigate the anticancer activity of secondary metabolites from native and indigenous plants and determine the classes of compounds that contributed towards its activity.