Abstract

AN OVERVIEW ON ANTICANCER DRUGS

Madhava Diggavi* and Nazhat Parveen

.

Abstract

Anticancer drug, also called antineoplastic drug, any drug that is effective in the treatment of malignant or cancerous disease. Cancer is second leading cause for death in the world. Cancer patients who are crippled with this disease and are suffering from harmful side- effects from chemotherapeutic drugs are turning down to natural remedies hoping for better cure. There are several major classes of anticancer drugs; these include alkylating agents, antimetabolites, natural products, and hormones in modern system of medicine. The drugs which acts as gulmahara, shothahara, vishahara, arbudaghna, vidradihara can be taken for Ayurvedic anticancer drugs. There are abundance of anticancer drugs in Ayurveda. Each herb contains multiple active principles that often operate synergistically producing therapeutic benefits and lowering the risks of adverse effects, and avoid the need for supplemental therapy to manage cachexia. The detailed pharmocolgy of certain anticancer drugs has been explained in this article, and an effort is made to raise awareness and encourage implementation of Ayurvedic therapies for combacting cancer and suggest an integrated approach in tumor management and treatment.

Keywords: Anticancer, DNA, Herbs, RNA.