Many of the current cancer drugs are from natural origin or derived from natural products.

A plant extract is a complex mixture of different, often closely related compounds that can act on different targets. Because of the generally low concentration of these constituents, there is a low toxicity, whereas with regard to the activity often synergism is observed. In addition, the presence of prodrugs can add to the activity.

Therefore medicinal plant extracts have a huge potential. That is the reason why Rica Capistrano I., a PhD student from the University of Antwerp did a doctoral study on this topic. In her doctoral thesis medicinal plants with previously reported cytotoxic activity and/or traditional use were investigated for their potential use against cancer in preclinical studies.