Bioprospecting has yielded multiple drugs approved by the FDA to treat various forms of cancer including vincristine and vinblastine isolated from the Madagascar periwinkle Catharanthus roseus (Apocynaceae). Vincristine and vinblastine are drugs of choice for the treatment of pediatric leukemia. Taxol, a drug marketed by Bristol-Meyers Squibb, is used to treat ovarian and breast cancer. Taxol was isolated from the Pacific yew tree Taxus brevifolia (Taxaceae) during a systematic search by the National Cancer Institute. Currently, Lars Bohlin at Uppsala University and Samantha Gerlach at Tulane University are studying cyclotides, small cyclic peptides from the Violaceae and Rubiaceae, as a new category of biodiversity derived anticancer compounds.
Some innovative research programs are analyzing complex mixtures of plant and other naturally occurring substances used in traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic medicine from India for new anticancer treatments. New Earth Biomed (NEBM), a not-for-profit cancer research organization, is currently evaluating such alternative treatments.