Ginkgo biloba: A Potential Anti-Cancer Agent

Abstract

Ginkgo biloba is generally considered as safe herbal extract in clinical application. Ginkgo Folium is a living fossil plant, which has been used in record by over few thousands of years. The extract of G. biloba, has been used extensively for the treatment of diseases related to the central nervous system and psychiatric disorders. Recently, different lines of evidence indicated that G. biloba exhibited anti-cancer effects. The potential therapeutic effect may due to antioxidant, anti-angiogenic and gene regulatory actions. In addition, Ginkgo Folium was studied in pharmacodynamic interactions induced by herb-drug interactions. These studies indicated that G. biloba usually exhibits synergistic effect. The extracts derived from G. biloba exhibits promising anticancer effect, including flavonoids, ginkgolide, and phenolic acids etc. This chapter will discuss the anticancer effect and mechanism of extracts derived from various parts of G. biloba, the possible usage as an adjuvant therapy in cancer treatment, and the development of G. biloba as potential novel anticancer drugs.