Spices for Prevention and Treatment of Cancers

Abstract

Spices have been widely used as food flavorings and folk medicines for thousands of years. Numerous studies have documented the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects of spices, which might be related to prevention and treatment of several cancers, including lung, liver, breast, stomach, colorectum, cervix, and prostate cancers. Several spices are potential sources for prevention and treatment of cancers, such as Curcuma longa (tumeric), Nigella sativa (black cumin), Zingiber officinale (ginger), Allium sativum (garlic), Crocus sativus (saffron), Piper nigrum (black pepper) and Capsicum annum (chili pepper), which contained several important bioactive compounds, such as curcumin, thymoquinone, piperine and capsaicin. The main mechanisms of action include inducing apoptosis, inhibiting proliferation, migration and invasion of tumors, and sensitizing tumors to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. This review summarized recent studies on some spices for prevention and treatment of cancers, and special attention was paid to bioactive components and mechanisms of action.

Actividad antiproliferativa de aceites esenciales de plantas cultivadas en Colombia

“…En un estudio se demsotró que el linalol no causó hepatotoxicidad en ratones de laboratorio (Jana et al 2014). El potencial farmacológico de especies de Piper es bien reconocido, del extracto de P. nigrum Carlos L. se aisló piperina un alcaloide con potente actividad antitumoral (Wang et al, 2014;Zheng et al, 2016).…”

“…Hoy día no hay cura para la mayoría de cánceres a pesar de intensa investigación en fármacos sintéticos de acción selectiva (Dunn y Kramer, 2016). El uso de medicamentos herbales sigue siendo alternativa para aliviar síntomas del cáncer, pueden actuar como coadyuvantes en tratamientos de quimioterapia y radioterapia (Harvey et al, 2015;Zheng et al, 2016;Shareef et al, 2016).…”

Anticancer Herbs for Improving the Quality of Life

“…The most active individual component, 6-shogaol, isolated from Zingiber officinale, inhibits growth & spread of many cancers particularly the ovarian cancer by blocking formation of new blood vessels and by inducing apoptosis & autophagy. 6-gingerol also inhibits adhesion, invasion and mobility of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells [28] and also suppresses the proliferation of breast cancer cells by inducing apoptosis. It is also effective even in chemotherapy resistant ovarian cancer.…”

“…Δ 9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main constituent found in the cannabis (molecular structure is shown in figure 5) which is responsible for the pharmacological activity of cannabis in the medical field [49]. [28] THC produced unique psychosomatic effects in human, including sedation, euphoria, altered sensory input and impaired cognitive functions. It also effects on the vital organs like heart (tachycardia), lungs (alveolar dilation) [50].…”

“…Garlic has preventive potentials and has enhancing effects on immune system [28]. Hippocrates was the first who recommend the use of Allium Sativum for the treatment of cancer.…”