Medicinal usage of some Arecaceae family members with potential anticancer effect.

Many studies have shifted the attention from the synthetic bioactive compounds to the naturally existing ones for the purpose of novel therapeutic agent(s). Such studies focused on the bioactive compounds from natural sources. The bioactive compounds from natural sources, which are developed in living systems, are supposed to be more biological friendly than synthesized ones, making them excellent therapeutic candidates for further discovery of drugs. Cancer is one of the leading deaths causes worldwide associated with uncontrolled proliferating cells. Chemotherapy is one of the first line treatment debulking surgery for many tumors. Hence, investigating the natural resources like plant and animal tissues to find out anti-cancer agents shows long standing interest for many researchers worldwide. In this study, we reviewed literatures for the medicinal uses of some Arecaceae family members with focus on their potentials as the anti-proliferating and/or cytotoxic agents, and further, making them a good source for potential anti-cancer agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]