Abstract
Cancer is a malign disease that accounts for about 9.6 million deaths around
the world and is the second largest leading cause of death after cardiovascular disease.
Chemotherapeutic drugs administered to treat cancer show great potency but falter,
causing many severe side effects. Hence, the paradigm of cancer drug research has
shifted towards plant and plant-derived natural compounds as they are reported to
deliver maximal effectiveness with lesser side effects. Indigenous plants and their
derivatives have been an integral part of ethnomedicine in India. The traditional
knowledge of utilizing medicinal plants has been used to treat numerous metabolic
disorders and diseases since immemorial. Indigenous plants have also been shown to
possess high potency in the treatment of cancer as well. The natural landscape of
northeast India has some of the most diverse and unique plant species, which have been
traditionally used in ethnomedicine and have been studied for their anticancer and
antitumor potentials. The aim of the present review is to highlight some of the natural
and indigenous plant species of Northeast India that have been reported to have anticancer and anti-tumor effects identified either in-vivo or in-vitro.
Keywords: Anticancer drugs, Cancer, Ethnomedicine, Indigenous, Northeast India, Traditional.