Abstract
Chemotherapy induced-hepatotoxicity is one of the prevalent problems among cancer patients, with a wide spectrum of complications from liver dysfunction to liver necrosis. Therefore, in this study, we review the research findings on the effects of medicinal herbs and herbal compounds on the hepatotoxicity induced by anticancer drugs. The words hepatotoxicity and hepatoprotective along with the words cancer drug or chemotherapy in combination with some herbal terms such as medicinal plant, phyto* and herb* were used to search for relevant publications indexed in the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) and PubMed. Available evidence shows that certain medicinal plants and herbal derivatives can reduce cancer drug-induced hepatotoxicity and protect liver cells against complications by regulating hepatic enzymes and increasing antioxidant enzyme activities. Some herbal formulations, including traditional Chinese medicine, have also been reported to exhibit such effects. Medicinal plants can exert anti-hepatotoxicity effects mainly by increasing antioxidant activity, inhibiting inflammatory processes, and reducing cell necrosis induced by anti-cancer drugs. Phytotherapy can be used as an effective complementary treatment for anticancer drug-induced hepatotoxicity and prevent various complications in the liver.
Highlights
With the spread of industrialization, cancers are one of the major causes of death in the world, with approximately 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer-associated deaths in 2012 [1]
The key words hepatotoxicity and hepatoprotective along with the words cancer drug or chemotherapy in combination with some herbal terms such as medicinal plant, phyto*, and herb* were used to search for relevant publications indexed in the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) and PubMed with EndNote software (Table 1)
Phytotherapy can be used as an effective and efficient approach to treat hepatotoxicity caused by anticancer drugs, and prevent several complications in the liver
Summary
With the spread of industrialization, cancers are one of the major causes of death in the world, with approximately 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer-associated deaths in 2012 [1]. Anticancer drugs may cause hepatotoxicity alone or due to interaction with other drugs, which is transient in some cases, or leads to liver tissue damage and threatens the life of the individual in other cases. Certain classes of chemotherapeutic agents Table 1: Number of studies divided by database such as alkylating agents, anti-metabolites, anti- Hepatotoxicity+ cancer drug+ medicinal PubMed 14 tumor antibiotics, isomerase inhibitors and mitotic plant. ISI inhibitors, hormone therapy and immunotherapy cause hepatotoxicity [2]. Hepatotoxicity+ cancer drug+phyto* Hepatotoxicity+ cancer drug+herb* Hepatotoxicity+ chemotherapy + medicinal plant PubMed 31. The use of Hepatotoxicity+ chemotherapy + phyto* hepatoprotective agents in oncology is beneficial, PubMed ISI
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