Title

Siddha formulations for cancer management: A review of preclinical and clinical data

Authors

Abarna Balasubramani^1,*, I. Shaira Banu¹, Jinavani Jeevagan¹, Suresh Ramasamy², Sathish Adithya Rajathinakaran^1,* & Medini Elanchezhian³

Affiliation

¹Department of Nanju Maruthuvam (Siddha Toxicology), National Institute of Siddha, (Affiliated with the Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G. R Medical University), Ministry of Ayush, Chennai, Tambaram Sanatorium, Tamil Nadu, India; ²Department of Gunapadam (Siddha Pharmacology), National Institute of Siddha, (Affiliated with the Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G. R Medical University), Ministry of Ayush, Chennai, Tambaram Sanatorium, Tamil Nadu, India; ³Department of Siddhar Yoga Maruthuvam, Government Siddha Medical College, (Affiliated with the Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G. R Medical University), Ministry of Ayush, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Abarna Balasubramani - E-mail: abu.abarna96@gmail.com
I Shaira Banu - E-mail: shairabanuismail12@gmail.com
Jinavani Jeevagan - E-mail: jinajeeva24@gmail.com
Suresh Ramasamy - E-mail: suresh03051994@gmail.com
Sathish Adithya Rajathinakaran - E-mail: adithyasa83@gmail.com
Medini Elanchezhian - E-mail: drmedini22@gmail.com

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received March 1, 2026; Revised March 31, 2026; Accepted March 31, 2026, Published March 31, 2026

Abstract

Cancer continues to be a significant public health challenge in India, with 1,461,427 new cases reported in 2022. A review of 88 Siddha formulations evaluated for anticancer activity reveals promising in vitro results, particularly against cervical, breast and liver cancers. MTT assay was used to assess cytotoxicity, with IC₅₀ values ranging from 0.075 μg/mL to 1000 μg/mL, indicating considerable variation in potency. Safety assessments, including acute and chronic toxicity studies, were conducted for many of the formulations, although advanced molecular analyses such as Annexin V and gene expression studies were limited. Hence, the therapeutic potential of Siddha medicine in oncology should be realised with further standardisation, detailed mechanistic investigations and well-designed clinical trials.

Keywords

Cancer, Siddha medicine, anti-cancer drugs, internal medicine, anti-proliferative drugs

Citation

Balasubramani et al. Bioinformation 22(3): 1582-1592 (2026)

Edited by

P Kangueane

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.