Plants have a long history of use in the treatment of cancer and over 60% of currently used anti-cancer agents are derived in one way or another from natural sources. South Africa has a rich plant biodiversity with only a limited number reported for the treatment of cancer. As a results, a collaborative research programme was initiated between the CSIR and the National Cancer Institue (NCI) in the USA, aimed at the screening of plant extract and identification of potentially new anti-cancer drug leads. Plant extracts that exhibited anti-cancer activity against these three human cell lines were then screened by the NCI.
Reference:
Fouche, G, Senabe, J, Khorombi, E et al. 2008. High throughput screening of South African plants for anti-cancer properties. Science Real and Relevant: 2nd CSIR Biennial Conference, CSIR International Convention Centre Pretoria, 17 & 18 November 2008, pp 1
Fouché, G., Senabe, J., Khorombi, E., Kolesnikoya, N., Maharaj, V., & Nthambeleni, R. (2008). High throughput screening of South African plants for anti-cancer properties. CSIR. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/2745
Fouché, Gerda, J Senabe, E Khorombi, N Kolesnikoya, VJ Maharaj, and R Nthambeleni. "High throughput screening of South African plants for anti-cancer properties." (2008): http://hdl.handle.net/10204/2745
Fouché G, Senabe J, Khorombi E, Kolesnikoya N, Maharaj V, Nthambeleni R, High throughput screening of South African plants for anti-cancer properties; CSIR; 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/2745 .
