17 Use of Bioinformatics Tools for the Discovery of Phytomedicines in Breast Cancer

Since historic times, plants have been used as a source of medication and many commercially influential medicines are of plant-based origin. The conventional approach to plant-based drug research also requires a large amount of time and expense. In women, breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death. In developed nations, breast cancer cases are very large as compared to emerging countries. Compared to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the use of herbal plants for breast cancer treatment has fewer side effects. In silico approaches have been generally accepted as beneficial for drug development. Here, beyond the conventional use of folk medicines, we acknowledge the importance of accessible databases of medicinal plants and bioinformatics methods for the exploration of in silico drugs.