Evaluation of Polyherbal Anticancer Tablets: A Review

Abstract

Cancer is a malignant abnormal growth of cells, one of the most dreaded and complex diseases. It concerns with several tempo spatial changes in cell composition, which finally lead to neoplasia. Various types of cancers have been reported. Chemotherapy, radiation, and/or surgery may cure them. Herbal remedies are supposed to be harmless as they cause fewer complications and are less likely to habitual. Antioxidant compositions of therapeutic plants show the anticancer activity and therefore, use of different proportions of the active components to formulate various standardized preparation with single or multiple components for their synergistic effects play a crucial role in curing cancer. Evaluation parameters to assess the in vitro anticancer activity includes Caspase-3, Caspase-9, alamar blue, LDH assay, XTT assay, sulforhodamine-B assay, MTT assay, DNA fragmentation assay, neutral red uptake cytotoxic assay, tryphan blue assay. Evaluation of dried extract or granules includes bulk density, tapped density, Carr’s index, Hausner’s ratio, angle of repose while the tablets evaluated by drug-excipient compatibility study by FT-IR, stability studies, hardness, thickness, weight variation, friability, disintegration time and dissolution test.