Moringa oleifera and their phytonanoparticles: Potential antiproliferative agents against cancer

Cancer is classified as one of the leading causes of global mortality. It has affected millions of people, often with poor prognosis. Having severe side-effects with conventional chemotherapy, alternate drugs and therapies are actively being investigated. There is a need for innovative drug discovery and design as existing cancer therapies are costly and not readily available. Ayurveda and traditional medicine have utilised natural resources such as plants and trees as part of their regime to treat various illness and diseases with positive outcomes. One such tree is Moringa oleifera (MO). Almost all parts have shown to be effective against several ailments including cancer which was attributed to the bioactive constituents. Targeted therapies had led to the development of nanoparticles which are extremely effective in various biomedical applications due to their small size. Green synthesis of gold nanoparticles have great potential as naturally occurring plants and trees such as MO can be used in the synthesis process. The resultant gold phytonanoparticles are useful in cancer therapies with improved survival rates and quality of life. The review highlights the importance of MO in natural medicine, synthesis of phytonanoparticles and the fundamental role as a potential antiproliferative agent against cancer.