Many plants collected at Japan, China, Korea, Imdonesia and South America were applied to antitumor and / or cytotoxic screening tests against Sarcoma 180 ascites in mice and / or V-79, KB, P388 cultured cells. On the course of these screening tests, alcoholic extracts of Forsythia viridissima (Oleaceae), Eurycoma longifolia(Simaroubaceae), Rubia cordifolia and R. akane(Rubiaceae), Cissampelos pareira and Abuta concolor (Menispermaceae), Nardostachys chinensis (Valerianacese), Mansoa alliaceae (Bignoniaceae), Casearia sylvestris (Flacourtiacear), Maytenus ilicifolia (Celastraceae), Hedychium coronarium (Zingiberaceae), Croton palanostigma(Euphorbiaceae), Cocculus trilobus(Menispermaceae), Ginkgo biloba(Ginkgoaceae), Alpinia galanga and Cucculus zanthorrhiza(Zingiberaceae), Evodia rutaecarpa(Rutaceae), and Periploca sepium(Asclepiadaceae) showed significant activity and their active principles were clarified. In this paper, a few antitumor substances in above plants are introduced.

• Koichi Takeya
• Hideji Itokawa