Anticancer Activities of Ginsenosides, the Main Active Components of Ginseng

Abstract

Cancer incidence rate has been increasing drastically in recent years. One of the many cancer treatment methods is chemotherapy. Traditional medicine, in the form of complementary and alternative therapy, is actively used to treat cancer, and many herbs and active ingredients of such therapies are being intensely studied to integrate them into modern medicine. Ginseng is traditionally used as a nourishing tonic and for treating various diseases in Asian countries. The therapeutic potential of ginseng in modern medicine has been studied extensively; the main bioactive component of ginseng is ginsenosides, which have gathered attention, particularly for their prospects in the treatment of fatal diseases such as cancer. Ginsenosides displayed their anticancer and antimetastatic properties not only via restricting cancer cell proliferation, viability, invasion, and migration but also by promoting apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and autophagy in several cancers, such as breast, brain, liver, gastric, and lung cancer. Additionally, ginsenosides can work synergistically with already existing cancer therapies. Thus, ginsenosides may be used alone or in combination with other pharmaceutical agents in new therapeutic strategies for cancer. To date however, there is little systematic summary available for the anticancer effects and therapeutic potential of ginsenosides. Therefore, we have reviewed and discussed all available literature in order to facilitate further research of ginsenosides in this manuscript.

Traditional Chinese Medicine: A Class of Potentially Reliable Epigenetic Drugs

“…Z-Ligustilide extracted from Angelica sinensis can inhibit the growth of mouse prostate cancer cells by demethylation of the promoter of the tumor suppressor gene NFE2 Like BZIP Transcription Factor 2 (NrF2) ( Su et al, 2013 ). Ginseng (Ren Shen in Chinese), which is a rhizome from the Araliaceae and has multiple anti-tumor effects ( Hong et al, 2021 ), should be one of the most studied TCMs. Ginsenoside Rg3 was one of main ingredients found to have a global hypomethylation effect in human hepatoma cell line HepG2 ( Teng et al, 2017 ).…”

Role of Ginseng, Quercetin, and Tea in Enhancing Chemotherapeutic Efficacy of Colorectal Cancer

“…Since ancient times, ginseng has been found to possess multiple pharmacological effects and has been used to treat various diseases, such as inflammation, cancers, metabolic syndromes, and autoimmune diseases. The anti-cancer effect of ginseng has attracted increasing interest and attention in the fields of various cancers, including ovarian cancer, CRC, breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, and liver cancer ( 31 – 34 ). Many in vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that ginseng or its extracts could significantly decrease the incidence of CRC and inhibit tumor growth ( 35 ).…”

How Should the Worldwide Knowledge of Traditional Cancer Healing Be Integrated with Herbs and Mushrooms into Modern Molecular Pharmacology?

“…Various ginsenosides have demonstrated anticancer properties in vitro and in vivo following the inhibition of cell cycle, angiogenesis, and the induction of apoptosis in different types of malignancies [ 328 , 330 ].…”