Plants have been a source of medicine for thousands of years. In many different cultures they became an integral part of local folklore. Plants have since become a source of well-known drugs and pharmaceuticals that are widely used in modern day medicine. Cancer is among the leading causes of mortality worldwide and the number of new cases is expected to rise over the next 2 decades. Some herbal medicines have a therapeutic effect which inhibits cancer via different mechanisms. The Mediterranean basin is one of the richest biodiversity areas in the world. In the Middle East region the use of medicinal plants for treating cancer has been documented for generations in different cultures. In the present review medicinal plants with confirmed data on active compounds and/or clear mode of action are discussed, with the objective to provide the reader with a view on the scientific studies concerning these plants activity, their active substances and mode of action as known today. However, medicinal and herbal plants were until recently mainly gathered from the wild, resulting in some of the commonly used herbs becoming endangered species. Also, in many cases, the activity and biochemical profile of plants harvested over different time spans and ecosystems may vary, due to genetic diversity and different growth conditions. Rational cultivation in most cases can ensure optimized yield with a uniform high quality of products.