Role of plants in treating cancer : a review.

Plants have been used for treating diseases since the dawn of modern civilization. Since time immemorial plants are used as traditional medicines for basic health care. But during the last century research have been focused on developing drugs from plants to treat cancer. Cancer is one of the world's dangerous diseases and it is one of the leading causes of death globally. The number of cancer patients in the world is being increasing rapidly. There are several treatment available for cancer like surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy but they are costly and have serious side effects. Plants and plant derived products have proved effective and safe in the treatment and management of cancers. The present review is an attempt to describe some common plants that possess anticancer activity.