Milene Aparecida Andrade 1 , Mariana Aparecida Braga 2 , Pedro Henrique Souza Cesar 2 , Marcus Vinicius Cardoso Trento 2 , Mariana Araújo Espósito 2 , Lucilene Fernandes Silva 3 , Silvana Marcussi 2 Show Affiliations »
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Essential oils are complex mixtures of low molecular weight compounds extracted from plants. Their main constituents are terpenes and phenylpropanoids, which are responsible for their biological and pharmaceutical properties, such as insecticidal, parasiticidal, antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antinociceptive, anticarcinogenic, and antitumor properties. Cancer is a complex genetic disease considered as a serious public health problem worldwide, accounting for more than 8 million deaths annually. OBJECTIVE: The activities of prevention and treatment of different types of cancer and the medicinal potential of essential oils are addressed in this review. CONCLUSION: Several studies have demonstrated anti-carcinogenic and antitumor activity for many essential oils obtained from various plant species. They may be used as a substitution to or in addition to conventional anti-cancer therapy. Although many studies report possible mechanisms of action for essential oils compounds, more studies are necessary in order to apply them safely and appropriately in cancer therapy. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.
BACKGROUND: Essential oils are complex mixtures of low molecular weight compounds extracted from plants. Their main constituents are terpenes and phenylpropanoids , which are responsible for their biological and pharmaceutical properties, such as insecticidal, parasiticidal, antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antinociceptive, anticarcinogenic, and antitumor properties. Cancer is a complex genetic disease considered as a serious public health problem worldwide, accounting for more than 8 million deaths annually. OBJECTIVE: The activities of prevention and treatment of different types of cancer and the medicinal potential of essential oils are addressed in this review. CONCLUSION: Several studies have demonstrated anti-carcinogenic and antitumor activity for many essential oils obtained from various plant species. They may be used as a substitution to or in addition to conventional anti-cancer therapy. Although many studies report possible mechanisms of action for essential oils compounds, more studies are necessary in order to apply them safely and appropriately in cancer therapy. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.
Entities: Chemical
Disease
Keywords:
Antitumor agents; essential oils; natural products; phenylpropanoids; secondary metabolites; terpenes.
Mesh： See more »
Substances： See more »
Year: 2018
PMID： 29295695 DOI： 10.2174/1568009618666180102105843
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Curr Cancer Drug Targets ISSN： 1568-0096 Impact factor: 3.428