Background: Common malignancies such as breast, lung, colorectal, prostate, and stomach cancers significantly contribute to cancer related death worldwide. Although conventional therapies including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted agents have substantially improved cancer outcomes, their effectiveness is often constrained by off-target toxicities, therapeutic resistance, and limited efficacy in advanced-stage disease.Objective: This review explores the potential of Ayurvedic formulations and bioactive phytochemicals alongside modern cancer treatments to enhance the safety and efficacy of cancer therapies.Methods: The review highlights recent advancements in both conventional and alternative cancer treatments, focusing on the pharmacological properties of Ayurvedic botanicals and their integration with modern oncology through translational research and precision medicine.Results: Ayurvedic plants like Phyllanthus emblica (Amalaki), Piper nigrum (Piperine), Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) and Curcuma longa (Haridra) contain bioactive phytochemicals that exhibit anti-proliferative, pro-apoptotic, and anti-metastatic effects, effectively targeting key cancer hallmarks. These phytochemicals are integrated into evidence-based oncology through reverse pharmacology. Modern oncology complements this approach with immunotherapies like Pembrolizumab and CAR-T cell therapies, targeted therapies such as Bevacizumab and Dabrafenib, and precision medicines like Imatinib, Trastuzumab, and Osimertinib. Additionally, hormonal therapies, along with innovations like radiopharmaceuticals and PARP inhibitors, expand the range of therapeutic options.Conclusion: Integrating Ayurvedic phytochemicals with modern oncology provides a comprehensive framework for overcoming the limits of existing cancer treatments. This integrative approach enhances the safety, efficacy, and personalization of cancer medicines by combining conventional knowledge with new advances to generate creative cancer care.

With a high mortality rate that accounts for millions of cancer-related deaths each year, breast cancer is the second most common malignancy in women. Chemotherapy has significant potential in the prevention and spreading of breast cancer; however, drug resistance often hinders therapy in breast cancer patients. The identification and the use of novel molecular biomarkers, which can predict response to chemotherapy, might lead to tailoring breast cancer treatment. In this context, accumulating research has reported microRNAs (miRNAs) as potential biomarkers for early cancer detection, and are conducive to designing a more specific treatment plan by helping analyze drug resistance and sensitivity in breast cancer treatment. In this review, miRNAs are discussed in two alternative ways-as tumor suppressors to be used in miRNA replacement therapy to reduce oncogenesis and as oncomirs to lessen the translation of the target miRNA. Different miRNAs like miR-638, miR-17, miR-20b, miR-342, miR-484, miR-21, miR-24, miR-27, miR-23 and miR-200 are involved in the regulation of chemoresistance through diverse genetic targets. For instance, tumor-suppressing miRNAs like miR-342, miR-16, miR-214, and miR-128 and tumor-promoting miRNAs like miR101 and miR-106-25 cluster regulate the cell cycle, apoptosis, epithelial to mesenchymal transition and other pathways to impart breast cancer drug resistance. Hence, in this review, we have discussed the significance of miRNA biomarkers that could assist in providing novel therapeutic targets to overcome potential chemotherapy resistance to systemic therapy and further facilitate the design of tailored therapy for enhanced efficacy against breast cancer.

Alternative splicing (AS) is a regulatory mechanism used to create many forms of mature messengers RNAs (mRNAs) from the same gene. Sequencing of RNA (RNA-Seq) is an advanced technology, which has been utilized by different studies to find AS mechanisms in head and neck cancer (HNC). Hitherto, there is no available review that could inform us of the major findings from these studies. Hence, we aim to perform a systematic literature search following PRISMA guidelines to study AS events in HNC identified through RNA-Seq studies. A total of five records were identified that utilized RNA-Seq data for identifying AS events in HNC. Five software was used in these records to identify AS events. Two genes influenced by AS i.e. MLL3 and RPS9 were found to be common in 4 out of 5 records. Likewise, 38 genes were identified to be similar in at least 3 records. Alternative splicing in HNC is a multifaceted regulatory mechanism of gene expression. It can be studied via RNA-Seq using different bioinformatics tools. Genes MLL3, as well as RPS9, were repeatedly found to be associated with HNC, however needs further functional validation.

Breast cancer (BC) ranks number one among cancers affecting women globally. Serious concerns include delayed diagnosis, poor prognosis, and adverse side effects of conventional treatment, leading to residual morbidity. Therefore, an alternative treatment approach that is safe and effective has become the need of the hour. In this regard, plant-based medicines via a combination of conventional drugs are gaining increasing acceptance worldwide, playing a pivotal role in cancer management as proven by their efficacy evaluation studies. This review aims to fill the knowledge gaps by providing the preclinical evidence of cellular and molecular mechanisms of Indian phytomedicines in targeting varied pathways of breast cancer progression. A comprehensive search was performed on different platforms, followed by screening of relevant studies for review. In this article, the in-depth of various botanical drugs covering their nomenclature, dosage, toxicity, and modus operandi in BC cells have been extensively discussed. Various signaling pathways like Notch signaling, MAPK signaling, apoptosis, Wnt signaling, etc. regulated by herbal medicine treatment in BC are also highlighted to understand the drug mechanism better. This will guide the researchers to plan future strategies and generate more robust integrated evidence of plant-based drugs or botanical formulations for their potential role in the management of BC.

An imbalance between angiogenic and anti-angiogenic factors has been hypothesized to have a major role in hypertensive disorders during pregnancy, which account for significant morbidity and mortality for the mother and neonate in India. There is a paucity of information on soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 (sVEGFR-1, anti-angiogenic factor) concentrations in different subgroups of pregnancy-induced hypertensive (PIH) disorders particularly in gestational hypertension (GH) and eclampsia during pregnancy. This cross-sectional study was conducted in order to test the above hypothesis and to get more insight into the role of sVEGFR-1 in these disorders. The concentrations of sVEGFR-1 in serum were measured from women with 22–39 weeks of gestation in the control (n=180) and gestationally matched hypertensive (n=360) pregnant mothers by ELISA. These sVEGFR-1 concentrations were found to be significantly elevated in the study groups as the severity of disease increases from GH to eclampsia (24 076 pg ml⁻¹; 42 000 pg ml⁻¹, P=0.0001) as compared with controls (3360 pg ml⁻¹). According to Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, at 34 weeks, the concentration cutoff, sensitivity, specificity for sVEGFR-1 in differentiating GH, pre-eclampsia and eclampsia were 7619.2 pg ml⁻¹, 75%, 75%; 16 726.6 pg ml⁻¹, 89.1%, 89.1%; 26 222.8 pg ml⁻¹, 91.6%, 91.6%, respectively. The gradual upregulation of sVEGFR-1 concentrations in these groups may be due to its intimate involvement in the etiopathogenesis of severity of various hypertensive disorders by antagonizing effects of VEGF during the placental development. These observations indicate the clinical utility of sVEGFR-1 in differentiating PIH disorders and also will be helpful for the evaluation of increased monitoring system for successful pregnancy.