Abstract
Background: Pancreatic cancer represents the most lethal malignancy among all digestive cancers. Despite the therapeutic advances achieved during recent years, the prognosis of this neoplasm remains disappointing. An enormous amount of experimental (mainly) and clinical research has recently emerged referring to the effectiveness of various plants administered either alone or in combination with chemotherapeutic agents. Apart from Asian countries, the use of these plants and herbals in the treatment of digestive cancer is also increasing in a number of Western countries as well. The aim of this study is to review the available literature regarding the efficacy of plants and herbals in pancreatic cancer. Methods: The authors have reviewed all the experimental and clinical studies published in Medline and Embase, up to June 2021. Results: More than 100 plants and herbals were thoroughly investigated. Favorable effects concerning the inhibition of cancer cell lines in the experimental studies and a favorable clinical outcome after combining various plants with established chemotherapeutic agents were observed. These herbals and plants exerted their activity against pancreatic cancer via a number of mechanisms. The number and severity of side-effects are generally of a mild degree. Conclusion: A quite high number of clinical and experimental studies confirmed the beneficial effect of many plants and herbals in pancreatic cancer. More large, double-blind clinical studies assessing these natural products, either alone or in combination with chemotherapeutic agents should be conducted.
Highlights
Pancreatic cancer represents the most lethal malignancy among all digestive cancers
The studies identified, either experimental or clinical, were categorized into five categories according to their subject and task: (i) clinical studies, e.g., studies exploring the role of certain plants in patients with Pancreatic cancer (PC); (ii) studies searching the role of herbals in PC stem cells; (iii) studies combining nanomedicine with herbals; (iv) studies investigating the role of combining plants with chemotherapy; and (v) studies investigating the antiproliferative action of plants in PC cell lines, a category representing the great majority of the available studies
In the present systematic review, we were able to identify 86 studies looking at the effects of 74 different herbals and plant derivatives investigated in experimental models of PC cell lines and PC xenografts
Summary
Pancreatic cancer represents the most lethal malignancy among all digestive cancers. Despite the therapeutic advances achieved during recent years, the prognosis of this neoplasm remains disappointing. Apart from Asian countries, the use of these plants and herbals in the treatment of digestive cancer is increasing in a number of Western countries as well. Favorable effects concerning the inhibition of cancer cell lines in the experimental studies and a favorable clinical outcome after combining various plants with established chemotherapeutic agents were observed. These herbals and plants exerted their activity against pancreatic cancer via a number of mechanisms. Conclusion: A quite high number of clinical and experimental studies confirmed the beneficial effect of many plants and herbals in pancreatic cancer. Despite the fact that the management of PC has been remarkably improved, only 10% of PCs are resectable at the time of diagnosis [8]
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