Cytotoxicity of South-African medicinal plants towards sensitive and multidrug-resistant cancer cells

Abstract Ethnopharmacological relevance Traditional medicine plays a major role for primary health care worldwide. Cancer belongs to the leading disease burden in industrialized and developing countries. Successful cancer therapy is hampered by the development of resistance towards established anticancer drugs. Aim In the present study, we investigated the cytotoxicity of 29 extracts from 26 medicinal plants of South-Africa against leukemia cell lines, most of which are used traditionally to treat cancer and related symptoms. Material and methods We have investigated the plant extracts for their cytotoxic activity towards drug-sensitive parental CCRF-CEM leukemia cells and their multidrug-r…