Phytotherapy of Prostate Cancer: How far are we?

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most diagnosed cancer in men, principally affecting men over 50 years old, and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men worldwide. In recent years, the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has increased, especially among oncology patients. Treatment options are limited in androgen-independent prostate cancer. To reduce this tremendous health burden, new approaches have been directed toward extremes of the disease spectrum centering on strategies for prostate cancer prevention and for treating advanced androgen-independent cancers. Medicinal herbs and their derivative phytocompounds are being increasingly recognized as useful complementary treatments for cancer. Great number of clinical studies have reported the beneficial effects of herbal medicines on the survival, immune modulation, and quality of life (QOL) of cancer patients, when these herbal medicines are used in combination with conventional therapeutics. Although, tremendous efforts have been done in phytomedicine and phytotherapy, we still have a long way to go.