Anticancer Uses of Medicinal Plants in Turkish Traditional Medicine

Abstract

The use of plants as therapeutic agents have been known since theancient times. In developing countries, traditional medicinal plantsare critical for disease treatment. Various herbal drugs are obtainedfrom these plants for therapeutic use. These herbal drugs are used inthe treatment of many diseases from diabetes to cancer. Today, canceris one of the most important life-threatening diseases for human.Some of the methods used in the treatment of cancer include herbalsources. The scientific world is not oblivious to many herbal drugsused for cancer in traditional treatment methods. Due to the limitedeffectiveness of drugs, an increasing number of studies have beenconducted in the last decade to increase the success of cancertreatments. In recent years, the importance given to the herbal drugsused for medicinal purposes and the studies on the medicinal uses ofplants have increased in our country. In this review, researches aboutthe herbal drugs traditionally used against cancer by the local peoplewere investigated. As a result of the study, 160 plant taxa and 17multi-herbal formulas were reported for cancer treatment in Turkishtraditional medicine.