School of Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Taylor's University, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, International Medical University, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Nutr Cancer. 2022;74(9):3058-3076. doi: 10.1080/01635581.2022.2069274. Epub 2022 Jun 8.
Plant extracts comprise a complex mixture of natural compounds with diverse biological activities including anticancer activities. This has made the use of plant extracts a trending strategy in cancer treatment. In addition, plants' active constituents such as polyphenols could confer protective effects on normal cells against damage by free radicals as well as lessen the toxicity of chemotherapeutic drugs. Recently, many emerging studies revealed the combinatory uses of plant extracts and individual therapeutic compounds that could be a promising panacea in hampering multiple signaling pathways involved in cancer development and progression. Besides enhancing the therapeutic efficacy, this has also been proven to reduce the dosage of chemotherapeutic drugs used, and hence overcome multiple drug resistance and minimize treatment side effects. Notably, combined use of plant extracts with chemotherapeutics drugs was shown to enhance anticancer effects through modulating various signaling pathways, such as P13K/AKT, NF-κB, JNK, ERK, WNT/β-catenin, and many more. Hence, this review aims to comprehensively summarize both In Vitro and In Vivo mechanisms of actions of well-studied plant extracts, such as , Korean red ginseng, sp., curcumin, and luteolin extracts in augmenting anticancer properties of the conventional chemotherapeutic drugs from an extensive literature search of recent publications.
植物提取物是一种复杂的天然化合物混合物，具有多种生物活性，包括抗癌活性。这使得植物提取物的使用成为癌症治疗的一种热门策略。此外，植物的活性成分，如多酚，可以对正常细胞提供保护作用，防止自由基的损伤，并减轻化疗药物的毒性。最近，许多新兴的研究揭示了植物提取物和单一治疗化合物的联合使用，这可能是一种有前途的万能药，可以阻止癌症发展和进展中涉及的多种信号通路。除了增强治疗效果外，这也被证明可以减少化疗药物的用量，从而克服多重耐药性并最小化治疗副作用。值得注意的是，植物提取物与化疗药物联合使用被证明可以通过调节多种信号通路，如 P13K/AKT、NF-κB、JNK、ERK、WNT/β-catenin 等，增强抗癌效果。因此，本综述旨在通过广泛查阅最近的出版物，全面总结从体外和体内研究中得到的、已被充分研究的植物提取物（如高丽红参、 、姜黄素和木犀草素提取物）的作用机制，以增强常规化疗药物的抗癌特性。
