Abstract
Anthraquinones are a possible treatment option for oncological patients due to their anti-cancer properties. Cancer patients often exhaust a plethora of resources that ultimately fail to provide fully curative measures. Alternative treatments are subsequently sought in the hope of finding a therapeutic remedy. Po¬tential regimens include aloe-emodin and its related derivatives. This review therefore summarizes the effects of aloe-emodin and other aloe components in light of their anti-proliferative and anti-carcinogenic properties. A systematic search was performed in PubMed for aloe-emodin and cancer in humans. Sixty abstracts of in vitrostudies were selected and reviewed with subsequent screening of the full text. Thirty-eight articles were summarized. Aloe-emodin possesses multiple anti-proliferative and anti-carcinogenic properties in a host of human cancer cell lines, with often multiple vital pathways affected by the same molecule. The most notable effects include inhibition of cell proliferation, migration, and invasion; cycle arrest; induction of cell death; mitochondrial membrane and redox perturbations; and modulation of immune signaling. The effects of aloe-emodin are not ubiquitous across all cell lines but depend on cell type. On the basis of this systematic review, the multiple consistent effects of aloe-emodin in hu¬man-derived cancer cell lines suggest that aloe-emodin is a potential anti-cancer agent that acts on cancer cells in a pleiotropic manner. Cancer patients often utilize alternative therapies as a result of suboptimal efficacy of conventional treatments. Aloe-emodin might become a therapeutic option for cancer patients if the basic research is confirmed in clinical trials.
Highlights
Cancer incidence and prevalence are increasing in the United States, placing a heavy burden on affected individuals and caregivers [1]
38 in vitro studies of human tumor cells were included in this review; the results of which are listed by origin of cancer and/or cell line (Table 1)
Aloe-emodin exhibits an array of anti-tumor effects in various cancer cell lines, including induction of apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, modulation of immune signaling, and cell mobility alterations
Summary
Cancer incidence and prevalence are increasing in the United States, placing a heavy burden on affected individuals and caregivers [1]. Conventional cancer treatment, consisting of surgery, chemotherapy, and/or radiation, is commonly associated with significant morbidity, and cure rates for many cancers are suboptimal [2] It is for those reasons, presumably, that cancer patients show great interest in complementary therapies, such as nutraceuticals, both for symptom reduction and in the post-treatment survivorship period. This review summarizes the effects of aloe-emodin and other aloe components in light of their anti-proliferative and anti-carcinogenic properties. Results: Aloe-emodin possesses multiple anti-proliferative and anti-carcinogenic properties in a host of human cancer cell lines, with often multiple vital pathways affected by the same molecule. Conclusions: On the basis of this systematic review, the multiple consistent effects of aloe-emodin in human-derived cancer cell lines suggest that aloe-emodin is a potential anti-cancer agent that acts on cancer cells in a pleiotropic manner. Aloe-emodin might become a therapeutic option for cancer patients if the basic research is confirmed in clinical trials
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