Himalayan Plants as a Source of Anti-Cancer Agents: A Review

Plants are an important source of synthetic and herbal agents used in several pharmaceutical industries. Some of the prominent plant-derived compounds have played a major role in the development of several clinically useful anticancer agents such as vinblastine, vincristine, topotecan and paclitaxel (taxol). Himalayan plants, grown in high altitude are the rich source of various secondary metabolites such as anthraquinones, flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, etc. This review article covers the active constituents isolated from several anticancerous plants of Himalaya and their effect against several anticancer cell lines.