Traditional medicine herbs as natural product matrices in cancer chemoprevention: A trans pharmacological perspective (scoping review)

Abstract

AbstractEmerging evidence on molecular biology related to tumors, inflammation, and immunity, highlights their architectural commonality shifting cancer treatment paradigms toward more economical prevention than treatment. Statistical surveys reveal exponentially growing herbal drug supplementation in cancer worldwide as vast pre‐clinical and clinical data unravel their multi‐mechanistic pharmacology. The integrative oncological approach calls for more “holistic” principles to be amalgamated into cancer care. New cancer drug development from herbs need not be limited by the archetypal ‘RCT‐Standardization’ bottlenecks. Based on comprehensive literature scoping as per Prisma‐ScR guidelines, we herein concurrently reviewed evidence‐based research reports of selected Indian Traditional Medicine (ITM) herbs of anticancer repute in parallel with their holistic therapeutics; a rationalistic exploration of ITM's scientific genre. Their synergy effect on cancer revisited using a trans‐pharmacological approach validates ITM's seemingly simplistic health/disease equation model, showing a fresh new avenue for re‐purposing whole herbal drug complexes in cancer management. Herbal drugs as per ITM are natural matrices whose dynamics of interaction in the etiopathology of cancer are conceptually and mechanistically integrative. Lateral perspective to the same as laid out in this review holds the key to their effectual development as more tangible cancer chemopreventives/new drug targets/leads if not as new pharmacological tools.