MEDICINAL PLANTS WITH ANTICANCER POTENTIAL AGAINST HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common malignancy and the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The liver plays a central role in metabolism and detoxification, making liver cancer particularly challenging to treat. While conventional therapies often cause severe side effects and have limited efficacy, medicinal plants offer promising alternative or complementary treatment options due to their rich content of bioactive compounds. Numerous plant-derived phytochemicals have demonstrated anticancer activity, particularly against HCC cell lines such as HepG2, through mechanisms including apoptosis induction, antioxidant effects, and inhibition of angiogenesis. Although several herbal extracts have shown efficacy in preclinical studies, further investigation is required to fully validate their therapeutic potential. This review focuses on selected medicinal plants and their phytochemicals that exhibit anticancer activity against liver cancer in both in vitro and in vivo models.