ArticleBMC complementary medicine and therapies2020
A survey of ethnomedicinal plants used to treat cancer by traditional medicine practitioners in Zimbabwe.
Article in BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 70 citations in OpenAlex.
- The role of traditional healers along the cancer care continuum in Sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025Pooled it
- Traditional Medicinal Plants Used for Cancer Treatment in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Mesenchymal stromal cell exosomes for drug delivery of prostate cancer treatments: a review.Stem cell research & therapy · 2025Review
- Network pharmacology, molecular docking and experimental approaches of the anti-proliferative effects ofHeliyon · 2024Article
- Indigenous medicinal plants used in folk medicine for malaria treatment in Kwara State, Nigeria: an ethnobotanical study.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2023Article
- Phenolics Extracted fromMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
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- 7-Geranyloxycinnamic Acid Isolated fromMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The use of medicinal plants in common ophthalmic disorders: A systematic review with meta-analysis.Heliyon · 2023Article
- Medicinal Uses of the Fabaceae Family in Zimbabwe: A Review.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
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- An Inventory of South African Medicinal Plants Used in the Management of Sexually Transmitted and Related Opportunistic Infections: An Appraisal and Some Scientific Evidence (1990-2020).Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- The Roles and Challenges of Traditional Health Practitioners in Maternal Health Services in Rural Communities of Mthatha, South Africa.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Prostate Cancer Review: Genetics, Diagnosis, Treatment Options, and Alternative Approaches.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- How Should the Worldwide Knowledge of Traditional Cancer Healing Be Integrated with Herbs and Mushrooms into Modern Molecular Pharmacology?Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- In Vitro and In Vivo Anticancer Activity of Basil (Cancers · 2022Review
- Biology, chemistry, and pharmacological activity ofJournal of medicinally active plants · 2022Article
- Bioprospecting Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria for Enhancing the Biological Properties and Phytochemical Composition of Medicinally Important Crops.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- A narrative review of the ethnomedicinal usage of Cannabis sativa Linnaeus as traditional phytomedicine by folk medicine practitioners of Bangladesh.Journal of cannabis research · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTraditional medicine plays an important role in health care provision in the developing world. A number of cancer patients have been found to be using traditional medicine as primary therapy and/or as complementary medicine. Cancer is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality globally among the non-communicable diseases. The aim of this study was to identify the plants used by traditional medicine practitioners (TMPs) in Zimbabwe to treat cancer.
methodsA structured questionnaire was used to interview consenting registered TMPs on ethnomedicinal plants they use to treat cancer. A review of published literature on the cited plants was also carried out. The practitioners were asked about the plants that they use to treat cancer, the plant parts used, type of cancer treated, other medicinal uses of the plants and preparation and administration of the plant parts.
resultsTwenty (20) TMPs took part in the study. A total of 18 medicinal plant species were cited. The commonly treated types of cancer were breast, prostate, colon, skin and blood cancers with most plants being used to treat skin, blood and breast cancers, respectively. Of the medicinal plants cited, 44.4% were used to treat all cancer types. The most used plant parts were the roots (72.2%) and leaves (72.2%) followed by the bark (38.9%). The medicinal plants were used for multiple ailments. The most common plant preparation methods were infusion (72.2%) and decoction (66.7%) and the oral route of administration, as extracts and powder put in tea and porridge, was the most used.
conclusionThe frequently used plant parts were leaves and roots. The traditional uses of the medicinal plants cited in this study resonate well with their reported uses from other ethnopharmacological studies done in other parts of the world. The plants used by TMPs to treat cancer in Zimbabwe, if adequately explored, can be instrumental in the discovery and development of cancer drugs.
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Registered trials
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