Herbal nutraceuticals: safe and potent therapeutics to battle tumor hypoxia.

The present review strongly suggests that herbal nutraceuticals are highly effective in combating the oncogenic effects of the HIF-1 pathway in wide varieties of tumors. However, more in vivo studies using zebrafish as a model system and extensive clinical studies in cancer patients with elevated tumor HIF-1α levels are highly warranted to ascertain the effective utilization of herbal nutraceuticals as adjunct/ alternative medicine in clinical practice to treat cancer.