Hindawi Publishing Corporation International Scholarly Research Notices Volume 2016, Article ID 7832120, 12 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/7832120 Research Article Appraisals of Bangladeshi Medicinal Plants Used by Folk Medicine Practitioners in the Prevention and Management of Malignant Neoplastic Diseases Md. Nur Kabidul Azam,1 Md. Mizanur Rahman,1 Samanta Biswas,2 and Md. Nasir Ahmed1 1 Ethnobotany & Ethnomedicine Division, TechB Herbal Solution, Kushtia 7040, Bangladesh 2MedicalCollegeforWomen&Hospital(MCW&H),UttaraModelTown,Dhaka1230,Bangladesh Correspondence should be addressed to Md. Nasir Ahmed; [email protected] Received 21 September 2015; Revised 1 December 2015; Accepted 20 December 2015 Academic Editor: Johnson Stanslas Copyright © 2016 Md. Nur Kabidul Azam et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Cancer is a group of diseases which is categorized to differentiate into diverse cell types and move around in the body to sites of organogenesis that is key to the process of tumor genesis. All types of cancer fall into the group of malignant neoplastic diseases. In Bangladesh, cancer is now one of the foremost killer diseases and its personal, social, and economic bearing are huge. Plant- derived natural compounds (vincristine, vinblastine, etoposide, paclitaxel, camptothecin, topotecan, and irinotecan) are useful for the treatment of cancer. Since there is no extensive ethnobotanical research study in Bangladesh regarding the traditional uses of medicinal plants against neoplasms, therefore, a randomized ethnopharmacological surveys were carried out in 3 districts of Bangladesh to learn more about the usage of anticancer medicinal plants and their chemical constituents having antineoplastic activity. Comprehensive interviews were conducted to the folk medicine practitioners and medicinal plants as pointed out by them were photographed, collected, deposited, and identified at the Bangladesh National Herbarium. The various plant parts have been used by the healers which included whole plant, leaves, fruits, barks, roots, and seeds. This study evaluated considerable potential for discovery of novel compounds with less side effects in the management and prevention of malignancy in cancer. 1. Introduction site and downstream sites of metastasis [3, 4], when a tumor successfully spreads to other parts of the body using the blood Cancer is defined as an abnormal growth of cells caused by or lymph systems known as metastasis. multiple changes in gene expression leading to deregulated Cancer is a leading cause of death in the western world. In balance of cell proliferation and cell death. Cancer is those theUnitedStatesandanumberofEuropeancountries,cancer tumors[1]thathavedevelopedtheabilitytoinvadethe is the second leading destroyer after cardiovascular diseases surrounding normal tissues. Cancers are caused by exoge- [5]. Cancer can occur at any age and the average age at the nous chemical, physical, or biological carcinogens in humans time of diagnosis for cancer is 67 years, and about 76% of and the mechanisms of carcinogenesis are often multifac- all cancers are diagnosed at the age of 55 or older. Although torial and complex. Different factors may act by different cancer is relatively rare in children, it is the second leading mechanisms and at different stages of tumor development [2]. cause of death in children ages of 1–14. In this age, leukemia is A cancerous cell is traveling throughout the body using the the most common cause of death. The overall death rates due blood or lymph systems, destroying healthy tissue in a process to cancer have almost tripled since 1930 for men and gone up called invasion, and that cell manages to make new blood over 50% for women [6]. World Health Organization (WHO) vessels to feed itself in a process called angiogenesis. Tumors estimates that some 84 million people will die of cancer may activate angiogenic inhibitors (angiostatin and endo- between 2005 and 2015 around the world. In 2007, there were statin) that can modulate angiogenesis at both the primary 7.9 million deaths from cancer, around 13 percent of all deaths. 2 International Scholarly Research Notices ∘ ∘ 1.1. Cancer Epidemiology in Bangladesh. The National Insti- geographically coordinate at 22 48 0 North, 89 33 0 and ∘ ∘ tute of Cancer Research and Hospital (NICRH) started a 23 10 0 North, 89 30 0 East, respectively. These three cancer registry in 2005 for the first time in Bangladesh along districts (Figure 1) are a part of Khulna division. with the World Health Organization (WHO). This report The surveys were conducted with the help of a semistruc- covers three years from 2005 to 2007. Data were collected tured questionnaire and the guided field-walk method [21, from 24,847 cancer patients who appeared in the NICRH 22]. A total of 5 Kabirajes (36–60 years) were interviewed for the first time [7]. Among them, 10,847 (57.6%) were during the surveys. Kabirajes were asked whether they know males. Lung cancer was the leading cancer (17.3%), followed aboutcancerandwhethertheytreatthecanceronaregular by cancers of breast (12.3%), lymph nodes and lymphatics basis. Kabirajes were selected based on their confirmatory (8.4%), and cervix (8.4%) for sexes combined in all ages. In answer to both questions. The Kabirajes mentioned the plants males’ lung (25.5%) and in females breast (25.6%) and cer- with which they treated cancer and took the interviewers to vical (21.5%) cancers were predominant. In children aged 14 spots from where they collected the plants. All interviews years or younger, lymphoma, retinoblastoma, osteosarcoma, were conducted in the Bangla language. The plants were leukemia, and kidney cancers were most prevalent. Lung shown along with providing of local names and the parts cancer in males and cervical and breast cancer in females used. Plant specimens were collected and dried in the field constitute 38% of all cancers in Bangladesh [7]. According to and later brought back to Dhaka for complete identification the WHO data published in April 2011, oral cancer deaths in at the Bangladesh National Herbarium. Nomenclature of Bangladesh reached 11,562 or 1.21% of total deaths. The age the identified species was documented from the plant list adjusted death rate is 12.52 per 100,000 of population ranking database [http://www.theplantlist.org/]. Bangladesh 4 in the world. There are more than one million (10 lakh) cancer patients in Bangladesh while approximately 3. Results 200,000 new patients, mostly women, are added every year creating a social burden on the country [8, 9]. A total of 20 plant species were obtained from the Kabirajes Variousplantshavebeenusedagainstcancerandtumor of the three districts surveyed. The results are summarized in traditional medicine system of Bangladesh since many inTable1.Theseplantspeciesarewildandbelongedto years. Traditional medicinal knowledge has been a means 17 families. The Acanthaceae, Cucurbitaceae, and Fabaceae towards the discovery of many modern medicines [10]. Tra- family contributed two plants each; the rest of the families ditional medicine is practiced in Bangladesh by folk medicine contributed one plant each. Whole plant as well as plant practitioners, also known as Kabirajes who utilize various parts like leaves, barks, roots, fruits, and seeds was used for formulations of medicinal plants in most of their prepara- preparing medicine. Leaves constituted the major plant part tions. We have observed that the Kabirajes of various districts used,forming40.6%oftotaluses.Roots,fruits,andseeds andareasusediversevarietiesofplantsforthetreatment each constituted accordingly 15.6%, 12.5%, and 9.4% of total of schizophrenia and psychotic problems [11], cardiovascular uses. The other plant parts (whole plant, stem, bark, flower, problems [12], eye infections [13], snakebite [14], diabetes and tuber) mentioned constituted, respectively, 9.4 and 3.1% [15], gastrointestinal disorders [16, 17], HIV/AIDS related of total uses (Figure 2). infections [18], rheumatoid arthritis [19], cattle diseases [20], and so on. 3.1. Types of Cancer. Among developed countries, the inci- It was objective of the present study to conduct a ran- dence and mortality rates for various cancers are almost the domized ethnopharmacological survey to learn more about same. Lung cancer is the most common cancer among men the medicinal plants used by folk medicine practitioners in both developing and developed countries of the world of Bangladesh for the treatment of cancer and also to do and breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. comprehensive study on several published articles attributed Annually, the global death rate for cancer is estimated to be to the in vivo or in vitro anticancer properties of these species. more than 6 million people and over 22 million individuals The anticipation was that the medicinal plants used by the have been diagnosed with cancer worldwide [23]. Table 2 has Kabirajes can prove to be a useful source for further scientific listed the types of cancer. studies leading to discovering more efficacious antineoplastic drugs. 4. Discussion 2. Methodology Many developing countries have intensified their efforts in documenting the ethnomedical data and scientific literature 2.1. Geographical Location of the Survey Area. The present on medicinal plants. In 2000, natural product