Aryana Libris

Author : Kintzios Spiridon E.
Title : Plants that fight cancer
Year : 2004

Link download : Kintzios_Spiridon_E_-_Plants_that_fight_cancer.zip

Preface. This is a book about the most fearsome disease of modern times, which will strike every fourth citizen of a developed country sometime during his life: cancer. It is not a book about the prevention of cancer, but rather its treatment with plant-derived chemicals. It is an up-to-date and extensive review of plant genera and species with antitumor and antileukemic properties that have been documented in a strictly scientific sense. From the layman to the medical expert, the book is addressed to people seeking information on novel opportunities on disease therapy in order to make decisions about care programs. Purpose-wise, the book is written in colloquial style. The volume comprises four chapters. In the first chapter, the current knowledge of the nature of cancer and the main types of the disease are briefly described. In the second chapter, the various approaches for treating cancer – including conventional, advanced and alternative methods – are presented, while a relative emphasis is given on the chemotherapy of cancer. The restrictions and risks of each approach are comparatively reviewed. The second chapter of the book is a general review of plant-derived groups of compounds with anticancer properties, including their chemistry, biosynthesis and mode of action. Evolutionary aspects of the anticancer properties of plants are presented and a separate chapter is devoted on the application of biotechnology in this field. The third, most extensive chapter of the book contains detailed information on each of more than 150 anticancer terrestrial plant genera and species. Topics include tradition and myth, distribution, botany, culture, active ingredients and product application (including an analysis of expected results and risks) along with photographs and illustrations of each species. In addition, further information can be found on plant species with equivocal or minor anticancer value. Although the traditional sources of secondary metabolites were terrestrial higher plants, animals and microorganisms, marine organisms have been the major targets for natural products research in the past decade. In the fourth chapter of the book, algal extracts and isolated metabolites having cytotoxic and antineoplastic activity and with the potential for pharmaceutical exploitation are reviewed, along with the phylogeny and physiology of the organisms. Emphasis is given to the chemical nature of these compounds, the novelty and complexity of which has no counterpart in the terrestrial world. The chemical structures of the most important compounds derived from terrestrial higher plants are given in the Appendix of the book. An extensive list of publications provides an overview of published research for each species, to be used as extensive background information for the expert reader. Finally, we feel compelled to state that this volume, as concise as it is, cannot include all existing plant species with anticancer properties; even during the stage of the final editing of the manuscript, many novel substances from other species have been identified as potential chemotherapeutic agents against various tumors. This fact is an evidence in itself for the rapidly growing interest of the international scientific and medical community in the utilization of plant-derived chemicals in cancer treatment. The Editors Athens, 2002. ...