Over the past 20 years herbal medicinal products have become a topic of increasing global importance, with both medical and economic implications. In developing countries in Africa and Asia, botanicals have always played a central role in healthcare. Data from WHO suggest that 65 to 80% of the populations in these countries depend on traditional and botanical medicines as the primary source of ...

This review is an updated and expanded version of the three prior reviews that were published in this journal in 1997, 2003, and 2007. In the case of all approved therapeutic agents, the time frame has been extended to cover the 30 years from January 1, 1981, to December 31, 2010, for all diseases worldwide, and from 1950 (earliest so far identified) to December 2010 for all approved antitumor ...