Highlights
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- Plant essential oils appear very promising for various cancer treatments.
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- In vivo studies have been included to lend support to the objective.
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- Evidence of cancer patient quality of life improvement by the essential oil therapy has been furnished.
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- This work is expected to stimulate bio-prospecting for novel sources of potent therapeutic essential oils.
Abstract
Essential
oils are volatile fractions of plants, obtained by distillation or
supercritical fluid extraction. Rich in terpenes and phenylpropanoids,
these oils have demonstrated varied pharmacological properties. For
their myriad health promoting attributes, they have become
quintessential ingredients in cosmetics, toiletries and aromatherapy.
They are used to relieve a plethora of disorders like skin issues (acne,
wrinkle and flakes), stress, migraine, sore throat, pregnancy
complications, cellulite, sciatic nerve, insomnia, allergy, tendonitis,
disc pain etc.; however, their ameliorating effect on cancer has grabbed
most attention in recent times. Significant suppressive effect of
essential oils against neural, oral, lung, breast, liver, pancreas,
gastric, ovary, prostate and colon cancers have been witnessed. Diverse
mechanisms such as antioxidant, anti-mutagenic, anti-proliferative,
apoptosis, immunomodulation, surveillance augmentation, detoxification,
interference with multidrug resistance and synergy with
chemotherapeutics have been discovered to mediate the anticancer
effects. Going by the findings, these aromatic oils can be developed as
adjunct therapy for multiple forms of cancers. The literature review
based on credible publications illuminates auxiliary therapeutic
potential, underlying mechanisms, associated risks and future prospects
of essential oils in oncotherapy.
Graphical abstract
Keywords
- Essential oil;
- Monoterpenes;
- Sesquiterpenes;
- Cancer;
- Cytotoxicity;
- Apoptosis
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
