Some of the active substances extracted from plants have been shown to have good medical effects, and in fact, extracts from many plants have special anti-cancer potential. In recent years, scientists have found that many plant extracts can help fight cancer, such as a research paper published in the international Journal of Natural Products, researchers extracted from parsley and dill seeds in addition to special compounds, These compounds can help in the preparation of novel drugs with anti-cancer activity.

Next, Xiaonan will introduce several plant extracts that have been proven to have anti-cancer effects.

[1] Broccoli extract may treat cancer

A compound found in broccoli sprouts may not only help prevent cancer, but also hopefully cure it. The compound is called Sulforaphane and is found in vegetables such as kale, cauliflower, cabbage, and especially in high concentrations of broccoli sprouts. Sulforaphane can also be used as a dietary supplement to treat degenerative neurological diseases (BSE). Scientists at the Texas A&M Health Science Center Research Institute and researchers in Oregon have previously found that sulforaphane inhibits colon and prostate cancer cells in in vitro cell tests in the lab. They have now shown that the compound has a similar effect in humans.

In a clinical study, 28 volunteers over the age of 50 were undergoing routine colonoscopy. The researchers also conducted a survey on their cruciferous vegetable eating habits. Their colon biopsies found that those who regularly ate broccoli had higher levels of the tumor suppressor gene p16, while those who ate little or no cruciferous vegetables had lower levels of the gene.

[2] Grape seed extract can effectively kill cancer cells

Scientists at the University of Colorado Cancer Research Center have synthesized the most potent component of grape seed extract, B2G2, in the lab, which can cause apoptosis in prostate cancer cells without harming healthy cells. The report appears in a recent issue of the journal Nutrition and Cancer.

"grape seed extract (GSE) was previously known to have anti-cancer effects, but the active ingredients of the extract were not known," said Alpna Tyagi, PhD, a researcher at the University of Colorado Cancer Center and the study's corresponding author.

"Despite our discovery of the role of B2G2, extracting B2G2 from Gses is a very time-consuming and expensive process," said Dr. Tyagi. Because of the difficulty of isolating B2G2, scientists have been slow to uncover its function. So Dr Tyagi decided to make B2G2 in a laboratory. The synthesis method is high yield and inexpensive. The scientists further investigated the anti-cancer effects of the synthetic B2G2. B2G2 was found to have the same anti-cancer ability as GSE.

[3] Hops Extract shows Promise in treating breast cancer

In a new study, From the UIC/NIH Center for Botanical Dietary Supplements, University of Illinois at Chicago Researchers have found that rich hop extracts activate a chemical detoxification pathway in breast cells that may help prevent breast cancer. The findings were published online June 7, 2016, in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology, a subsidiary of the American Chemical Society (ACS). The paper is titled "Hop (Humulus lupulus L.) Extract and 6-Prenylnaringenin Induce P450 1A1 Catalyzed Estrogen 2-Hydroxylation."

Natural plant-based dietary supplements, such as hops, have become increasingly popular among women with postmenopausal symptoms because they are considered a safer alternative to hormone therapy, which has been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer. However, the efficacy and potential toxicity of plant-based drugs are still being studied.

In the new study, corresponding author Judy Bolton, a professor of medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and her colleagues added hop extract to two different breast cell lines to see if the extract affected estrogen metabolism, a key mechanism in breast cancer. As a compound in hop extract, 6-prenylnarigenin (6-PN) enhances the detoxification pathway in these breast cells, and increased activity of this detoxification pathway is associated with a lower risk of breast cancer.

[4] Magnoliaceae plant extracts may be effective in fighting head and neck cancer

In addition to the large flowers of the magnoliaceae family, which are known for their colorful orientation, magnoliol, which is derived from the magnoliaceae family, has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries. Recently, scientists from the United States published a new research progress in the international academic journal oncotarget, they found that honokiol in the fight against head and neck cancer has a miracle effect.

According to the National Cancer Institute, at least three-quarters of head and neck cancer patients are caused by tobacco and alcohol use, and this type of cancer has only a 50% survival rate, and approximately 20,000 Americans die from head and neck cancer each year.

Honokiol, a major active ingredient in extracts from plants in the magnoliaceae family, has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries to treat anxiety as well as other conditions. Later studies found that magnolol has a certain role in cancer treatment, which may activate multiple signaling pathways in various cancer cells to inhibit tumor cell growth.

[5] A novel anticancer compound was found in convolvulus 

In collaboration with the research group led by Wang Hui at the Institute of Nutrition Sciences, Shanghai Academy of Health Sciences, and Zhang Weidong at Shanghai Second Military Medical University, Japonicone A (JA), a natural product of double hemiterpene lactones, was screened and identified from the extract of the Chinese herbal plant Flunculus japonicone. It was also revealed that the substance acts as a natural NF-κB inhibitor, which can significantly inhibit the growth and metastasis of lymphoma cells. Recently, the academic journal Clinical Cancer Research published a related research paper online.

In recent years, the number of new cases of lymphoma in China has been rising, and tends to be younger and urbanized. Previous studies have shown that the NF-κB signaling pathway mediates the occurrence and development of lymphoma and other biological processes, and the abnormal activation of this signaling pathway is one of the main causes of metastasis and chemotherapy resistance of malignant lymphoma. Therefore, drug development targeting the NF-κB signaling pathway has become a new strategy for the treatment of this disease.

In 2008, the World Health Organization listed China, along with the United States, as the world's two most common countries for cancer. Although the international medical community has developed hundreds of anti-cancer drugs, cancer is still considered to be a difficult to cure high mortality disease.

In more than half a century since the 1960s, pharmaceutical researchers at home and abroad have developed and listed a number of plantderived anti-cancer drugs, including vincristine series, paclitaxel series, camptocampine series, podophyllotoxin series, harpingtonine, fructus javanica extract, coix seed extract, curcuma zedoary extract, etc.

The overall rise of new plant-based anticancer drugs has eclipsed traditional chemotherapy drugs. According to statistics, the total sales of plant-derived anti-cancer drugs have accounted for half of the international anti-cancer drug market, and it is still growing. With the continuous maturity of research and development technology, whether it is plant extracts or anti-cancer medicine industry, it is showing a good scene.