Abstract
Prostate cancer remains one of the major causes of death worldwide. In view of the limited treatment options for patients with prostate cancer, preventive and treatment approaches based on natural compounds can play an integral role in tackling this disease. Recent evidence supports the beneficial effects of plant-derived phytochemicals as chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agents for various cancers, including prostate cancer. Prunus africana has been used for generations in African traditional medicine to treat prostate cancer. This review examined the potential roles of the phytochemicals from P. africana, an endangered, sub-Saharan Africa plant in the chemoprevention and chemotherapy of prostate cancer. In vitro and in vivo studies have provided strong pharmacological evidence for antiprostate cancer activities of P. africana-derived phytochemicals. Through synergistic interactions between different effective phytochemicals, P. africana extracts have been shown to exhibit very strong antiandrogenic and antiangiogenic activities and have the ability to kill tumor cells via apoptotic pathways, prevent the proliferation of prostate cancer cells, and alter the signaling pathways required for the maintenance of prostate cancer cells. However, further preclinical and clinical studies ought to be done to advance and eventually use these promising phytochemicals for the prevention and chemotherapy of human prostate cancer.
Highlights
Prostate cancer is one of the most common nonskin cancers in men
We modified the data search process used by Kim et al [47] and Lin et al [48] to obtain information from original peer reviewed articles published in scientific journals, with a focus on the botany, distribution, and potential of P. africana for cancer chemoprevention and chemotherapy
The antiprostate cancer phytochemicals from P. africana can be divided into three major categories based on their targets and pharmacological effects (Table 1): (i) phytochemicals that kill the tumor cells through apoptotic pathways, a common mode of action of chemotherapeutic agents against a wide variety of cancer cells [60], (ii) phytochemicals that alter the signaling pathways required for the maintenance of prostate cancer cells, and (iii) phytochemicals that exhibit strong antiandrogenic and antiangiogenic activities
Summary
Prostate cancer is one of the most common nonskin cancers in men It is caused by unregulated prostate cell division, which leads to abnormal growth, with the potential to spread to other parts of the body [1]. Chemoprevention and chemotherapy, including the administration of one or more naturally occurring antiprostate cancer agents [1, 3, 4, 10] have been identified as approaches by which the prevalence of such diseases as prostate cancer can be reduced, suppressed, or reversed. Among plants with enormous antiprostate cancer potential is Prunus africana (African cherry), which belongs to the plant family Rosaceae This evergreen miraculous plant is only found in sub-Saharan Africa and is highly sought after owing to its unique anticancer phytochemicals [1, 2, 15]. This review sought to examine the phytochemicals from P. africana that have the potential for prostate cancer chemoprevention and chemotherapy-both in vitro and in vivo with the goal of finding new drugs for prostate cancer
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