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Journal of the National Cancer Institute Advance Access originally published online on June 10, 2008
JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2008 100(12):838-839; doi:10.1093/jnci/djn199
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© Oxford University Press 2008.

NEWS

Back to Nature: Extinction of Medicinal Plants Threatens Drug Discovery

Vicki Brower

The first 10% of the full text of this article appears below.

During the past few decades, as researchers developed new molecularly targeted cancer treatments, including trastuzumab, bevacizumab, and cetuximab, it has been easy to forget that many cancer drugs originated in plants, fungi, and soil and marine microorganisms.

Although early drugs came from plants—aspirin from willow tree bark, morphine from poppies, digitalis from foxglove, penicillin from mold—contemporary drug discovery has largely moved beyond natural products to the development of synthetic compounds and monoclonal antibodies. But natural-product experts who continue to develop cancer drugs from plants and other natural products insist that nothing beats nature for finding drug leads. They note that more than 60% of cancer therapeutics on the market or in testing are natural product based.

However, a new report by UK-based Botanic Gardens Conservation International warns that many plants and . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Early Plant-Based Anticancer Drugs

Interest in Natural Products Waxes and Wanes

NCI's Natural Products Push

Beyond Plants


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J. W.-H. Li and J. C. Vederas
Drug Discovery and Natural Products: End of an Era or an Endless Frontier?
Science, July 10, 2009; 325(5937): 161 - 165.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]