Scientists from the Kunming Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences recently created an anti-cancer drug forecasting platform and newly identified dozens of plants with potential anti-cancer effects. Based on these developments, a network has been set up to link the plants with anti-cancer drugs currently on the market.

According to Huang Jingfei, a researcher working on the project, the plants enabled the team to predict 5,278 anti-cancer compounds, among which 346 have displayed superior anti-cancer activity. Further analysis proved that 3,952 of the compounds have a high degree of structural similarity with anti-cancer drugs. Huang said they identified 57 plants with the potential to fight cancer. 

The most common and effective means of treatment for cancer now are surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but these measures pose a great number of limitations and disadvantages.

In many countries, medicinal plants are a common alternative therapy for cancer treatment. Traditional Chinese medicine databases record more than 2,000 kinds of medicinal plants that have been used to treat a wide variety of diseases, including cancer, for nearly 1,000 years.