RESUMO
Tibetan medicine is an important part of traditional medicine in China, while many of them with antitumor activity still be neglected. Through literature collation and interviews, we sort out 60 kinds of medical materials and six kinds of compound with antitumor and pharmacological activity. The medicinal materials were described by the aspects of Latin name, botanical name, Tibetan name, the traditional efficacy of Tibetan medicine, and anticancer active ingredients and mechanisms. The results found that 60 kinds of medical materials belong to 36 families, and mostly plateau varieties. There are 27 kinds of medicinal herbs directly inhibiting the growth and proliferation of tumor cells in these varieties; 12 kinds of medicinal herbs inducing tumor cell apoptosis; two kinds of medicinal herbs inducing tumor cell differentiation; three kinds of medicinal herbs enhancing organism immunity. In summary, Tibetan medicine has great potential for development of anticancer drugs and offers the possibility of developing new drugs against tumors.