Abstract
“Ayurveda”, an ancient Indian science of living which originated about 5000
thousand years ago, establishes ways of living a healthy life by establishing harmony
between body, mind, and spirit. Ayurveda suggests lifestyle and dietary changes for the
management of cancer and cancer like symptoms. Though the occurrence of this
disease about five thousand years ago was sparce, yet the ayurvedic texts do mention
some symptoms that can be aliased to cancer. These are often treated by different
Ayurvedic procedures and formulations. Majority of these formulations balance the
elements in our body referred to as “Tridoshas” which are vatta, pitta and kapha. It has
been reported that the herbs, lifestyle and dietary changes that act by balancing
“Tridoshas” show beneficial effects on cancer at various stages of the disease.
Medicinal plants that possess a set of defined attributes such as bitter, pungent,
astringent biopotency, act as excellent candidates for prevention, mitigation and
treatment of cancers. Moreover, using systems pharmacology and bioactivity-guided
fractionation, it is now possible to decipher the molecular mechanism of action of these
potent anti-cancer herbs. An amalgamation of Ayurvedic systems and modern medicine
put together as “Modern Ayurveda” is proving efficient in cancer therapy.