Radiation Oncology/Drugs/Ethnopharmacologic therapeutic agent/Catharanthus roseus


 * Catharanthus roseus, commonly known as bright eyes, Cape periwinkle, graveyard plant, Madagascar periwinkle, old maid, pink periwinkle, rose periwinkle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae
 * It is native and endemic to Madagascar, but grown elsewhere as an ornamental and medicinal plant, a source of the drugs vincristine and vinblastine, used to treat cancer
 * The species has long been cultivated for herbal medicine
 * In Ayurveda (Indian traditional medicine) the extracts of its roots and shoots, though poisonous, are used against several diseases
 * In traditional Chinese medicine, extracts from it have been used against numerous diseases, including diabetes, malaria, and Hodgkin's lymphoma
 * Many of the vinca alkaloids were first isolated from Catharanthus roseus, including vinblastine and vincristine used in the treatment of leukemia and Hodgkin's lymphoma