Abstract
Spices have been widely used as food flavorings and folk medicines for thousands of years. Numerous studies have documented the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects of spices, which might be related to prevention and treatment of several cancers, including lung, liver, breast, stomach, colorectum, cervix, and prostate cancers. Several spices are potential sources for prevention and treatment of cancers, such as Curcuma longa (tumeric), Nigella sativa (black cumin), Zingiber officinale (ginger), Allium sativum (garlic), Crocus sativus (saffron), Piper nigrum (black pepper) and Capsicum annum (chili pepper), which contained several important bioactive compounds, such as curcumin, thymoquinone, piperine and capsaicin. The main mechanisms of action include inducing apoptosis, inhibiting proliferation, migration and invasion of tumors, and sensitizing tumors to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. This review summarized recent studies on some spices for prevention and treatment of cancers, and special attention was paid to bioactive components and mechanisms of action.
Highlights
Spices have been widely used as condiments for thousands of years because of their flavor, taste and color
Lymphatic vessel density was reduced by curcumin in an in vivo human gastric cancer model, lymphatic vessel endothelial receptor 1 (LYVE-1), prospero homeobox 1 (Prox-1), podoplanin, and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 3 (VEGFR-3) mRNA expression were down-regulated, which indicated gastric cancer lymph node metastasis might be inhibited by curcumin [63]
Pancreatic cancer cells apoptosis was increased and tumor growth was synergistically inhibited by thymoquinone combined with gemcitabine both in vitro and in vivo via modulating multiple molecular signaling targets, such as suppressing Notch1 and Notch intracellular domain (NICD), up-regulating PTEN, and inactivating
Summary
Spices have been widely used as condiments for thousands of years because of their flavor, taste and color. The immunomodulatory effects of some spice compounds were confirmed, such as thymoquinone [4]. The antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory effects of spices have been confirmed in many studies [6]. Surgery alone,surgery or radiation is effective only when the tumor is are the major treatment modalities. There a real need for new with reduced tumor There is aanticancer real need drugs for new anticancer side and spices are a promising source could treat chemotherapy-induced indigestion, drugseffects, with reduced side effects, and spices areand a promising source and could treat chemotherapy‐. This review summarized some studies about spices-derived spices‐derived substances exhibiting anti-cancer anti‐cancer and chemoprevention activity, activity, and and their their mechanisms mechanisms of of action.
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