Cancer is a frightful disease and represents one of the biggest health-care issues for the human race and demands a proactive strategy for cure. Plants are reservoirs for novel chemical entities and provide a promising line for research on cancer. Hitherto, being effective, chemotherapy is accompanied by certain unbearable side effects. Nevertheless, plants and plant derived products is a revolutionizing field as these are Simple, safer, eco-friendly, low-cost, fast, and less toxic as compared with conventional treatment methods. Phytochemicals are selective in their functions and acts specifically on tumor cells without affecting normal cells. Carcinogenesis is complex phenomena that involves many signaling cascades. Phytochemicals are considered suitable candidates for anticancer drug development due to their pleiotropic actions on target events with multiple manners. The research is in progress for developing potential candidates (those can block or slow down the growth of cancer cells without any side effects) from these phytochemicals. Many phytochemicals and their derived analogs have been identified as potential candidates for anticancer therapy. Effort has been made through this comprehensive review to highlight the recent developments and milestones achieved in cancer therapies using phytomolecules with their mechanism of action on nuclear and cellular factors. Furthermore, drugs for cancer treatment and their limitations have also been discussed. Keywords: Cancer, Limitations of anticancer drugs, Phytochemicals, Analog

Though much progress has been made in drug delivery systems, the design of a suitable carrier for the delivery of hydrophobic drugs is still a major challenge for researchers.

The medicinal importance of a novel plant Olax nana Wall. ex Benth. (family: Olacaceae) was revealed for the first time via HPLC-DAD finger printing, qualitative phytochemical analysis, antioxidant, cholinesterase, and α-glucosidase inhibitory assays. The crude methanolic extract of O. nana (ON-Cr) was subjected to qualitative phytochemical analysis and HPLC-DAD finger printing. The antioxidant potential of ON-Cr was assessed via 1,1-diphenyl,2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2-azinobis[3-ethylbenzthiazoline]-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) free radical scavenging assays. Furthermore, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) & butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibitory activities were performed using Ellman’s assay, while α- glucosidase inhibitory assay was carried out using a standard protocol. The qualitative phytochemical analysis of ON-Cr revealed the presence of secondary metabolites like alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, sterols, saponins and terpenoids. The HPLC-DAD finger printing revealed the presence of 40 potential compounds in ON-Cr. Considerable anti-radical activities was revealed by ON-Cr in the DPPH, ABTS and H2O2 free radical scavenging assays with IC50 values of 71.46, 72.55 and 92.33 μg/mL, respectively. Furthermore, ON-Cr showed potent AChE and BChE inhibitory potentials as indicated by their IC50 values of 33.2 and 55.36 μg/mL, respectively. In the α-glucosidase inhibition assay, ON-Cr exhibited moderate inhibitory propensity with an IC50 value of 639.89 μg/mL. This study investigated Olax nana for the first time for detailed qualitative phytochemical tests, HPLC-DAD finger printing analysis, antioxidant, anticholinesterase and α-glucosidase inhibition assays. The antioxidant and cholinesterase inhibitory results were considerable and can provide scientific basis for further studies on the neuroprotective and anti-Alzheimer’s potentials of this plant. ON-Cr may further be subjected to fractionation and polarity guided fractionation to narrow down the search for isolation of bioactive compounds.