Review article
Crocus sativus L. (saffron) for cancer chemoprevention: A mini review
- Open Access funded by Center for Food and Biomolecules, National Taiwan University
- Under a Creative Commons license
Abstract
Cancer is one of the most feared diseases globally and there has been a sustained rise in its incidence in both developing and developed countries. Despite the growing therapeutic options for patients with cancer, their efficacy is time-limited and non-curative. Hence to overcome these drawbacks, an incessant screening for superior and safer drugs has been ongoing for numerous decades, resulting in the detection of anti-cancer properties of several phytochemicals. Chemoprevention using readily available natural substances from vegetables, fruits, herbs and spices is one of the significantly important approaches for cancer prevention in the present era. Among the spices,Crocus sativus L. (saffron; 番紅花 fān hóng huā) has generated interest because pharmacological experiments have established numerous beneficial properties including radical scavenging, anti-mutagenic and immuno-modulating effects. The more powerful components of saffron are crocin, crocetin and safranal. Studies in animal models and with cultured human malignant cell lines have demonstrated antitumor and cancer preventive activities of saffron and its main ingredients. This review provides a brief insight into the anticancer properties of saffron and its components.
Graphical abstract
Keywords
- Crocus sativus;
- Saffron;
- Cancer;
- Anticancer;
- Chemoprevention;
- Pharmacology
1. Introduction
Cancer is one of the most feared diseases globally and there has been a sustained rise in its incidence in both developing and developed countries. It is one of the major noncommunicable diseases posing a threat to world health. Unfortunately, enhancements in socioeconomic circumstances are generally associated with increased cancer incidence. China, India, and Russia, which share rapidly rising cancer incidence, have cancer mortality rates that are nearly twice as high as in the UK or the USA. Vast geographies, growing economies, aging populations, increasingly westernized lifestyles, relatively disenfranchised subpopulations, serious contamination of the environment, and uncontrolled cancer-causing communicable infections have all contributed to its rapid rise in incidence.1 Under Indian circumstances cancer could lead to severe social and economic consequences, frequently causing family hardships and societal inequity. In a population of ∼1.2 billion, nearly > 1 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed every year causing ∼600,000–700,000 deaths in 2012.2 An increasing proportion of the burden is falling on low- and middle-income countries because of not only demographic change, but also a transition in risk factors, whereby the consequences of the globalization of economies and behaviors are adding to an existing burden of cancers of infectious origin.3 The increasing burden of cancers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is attributable in part to increasing urbanization, expansion of the adult population at risk, and increasing or persistent exposures to infectious agents, tobacco, and dietary deficiencies. Based on the present knowledge of the risk factors it seems that in about 33–50% of cancers primary prevention is principally a helpful method.4
2. Cancer projections
A study conducted by D'Souza et al5 revealed that ∼0.44 million died due to cancer during the year 2011, whereas 0.51 million and 0.60 million persons are projected to die from cancer in 2016 and 2021. The projected cancer mortality would escalate to 0.70 million by 2026 because of the change in size and composition of the population. Among women, cancer of the breast, cervix, and ovary account for 34% of all cancer deaths. The leading sites of cancer mortality in males are the lung, esophagus, prostrate, and stomach. The above results show a need for commitment for tackling cancer by reducing risk factors and strengthening the existing screening and treatment facilities.5 Major contributors to the increase in the prevalence of cancer over the years are an increase in the population size as well as an increase in the proportion of elderly population, urbanization, and globalization. The cancer incidence results show an urgent need for strengthening and augmenting the existing diagnostic/treatment facilities, which are inadequate even to tackle the present load.6
Since time immemorial cancer has been a topic of exhaustive research both at the molecular as well as pharmaceutical level. Unfortunately, a major concern in successful treatment of cancer is a lack of understanding of the underlying molecular signaling and the probable targets of therapeutics. Despite the growing therapeutic options for patients with cancer, their efficacy is time-limited and noncurative.7 Since the early 1940s to the present > 50 chemotherapeutic drugs have been discovered for the treatment of cancer. Despite their efficacy the majority of these drugs are associated with severe toxicity leading to physical and mental trauma to patients. Hence, to overcome these drawbacks, an incessant screening for superior and safer drugs has been ongoing for numerous decades, resulting in the detection of anticancer properties of several phytochemicals.8
Since millennia nature has been providing us with a vast variety of therapeutic agents. Furthermore, scientists have been able to exploit these natural sources to isolate numerous modern drugs based on their usage pattern of plants in traditional medicine. For cancer prevention and therapeutics, anticancer agents derived from plants and their derivatives have been proven to be effective. For a long time vinca alkaloids either alone or in combination have been used for the treatment of various types of cancers.
Approximately 50–60% cancer patients in the United States utilize agents derived from different parts of plants or nutrients (complementary and alternative medicine), exclusively or concurrently with traditional therapeutic regimes such as chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. The need for new drugs has prompted studies evaluating possible anticancer agents in fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices.7 Chemoprevention using readily available natural substances from vegetables, fruits, herbs, and spices is one of the significantly important approaches for cancer prevention in the present era.
