Anticancer Effects of Red Beet Pigments

Laboratory evidence for the hematopoietic potential of Beta vulgaris leaf and stalk extract in a phenylhydrazine model of anemia

“…B. vulgaris has been used in folk medicine and some of its pharmacological activities have been demonstrated, including vasodilating (10), antihypertensive (11,12), antidiabetic (13), hepatoprotective (14), and anticancer (15); it has also been shown to increase athletic performance (16). …”

Evaluation of the Effect of Beetroot Juice on DMBA‐induced Damage in Liver and Mammary Gland of Female Sprague–Dawley Rats

“…Recently, the proapoptotic action of betanin was reported (Zielińska‐Przyjemska et al ., ). In vivo studies confirmed anticarcinogenic activity of beetroot in mouse lung, skin and liver carcinogenesis models (Kapadia and Rao, ). Additionally, Kawano and Umemura () have found that oral intake of beet extract shows potential preventing skin diseases associated with impaired skin barrier function.…”

Evaluation of skin cancer chemoprevention potential of sunscreen agents using the Epstein–Barr virus early antigen activation in vitro assay

“…Our earlier studies have demonstrated that the EBV‐EA activation model is a reliable, reproducible and suitable test system for general screening of anti‐tumour‐promoting activity of a wide variety of synthetic and natural compounds . Further, we have found that compounds that are active in this in vitro assay tend to be generally effective tumour inhibitors under in vivo conditions in the UV‐B and various chemical carcinogen‐induced two‐stage experimental skin tumour formations in mice, which correspond to the promotion stage of carcinogenesis .…”

“…Our studies are based on the postulation that sunscreen compounds with antioxidant property may act as cellular free radical scavengers and relieve oxidative stress involved in cancer-causing mutagenic, inflammatory and immunosuppressive damages in skin cells resulting from prolonged exposure to UV radiation. With this strategy, we have successfully identified the skin cancer chemopreventive potential of a wide variety of naturally occurring and synthetic compounds, such as betalains [34,44], isoflavonoids [37], flavanones [38], naphthoquinones [36], phlorophenones [35], triterpenes [32], saponins [33,40] and xanthones [46]. The potential use of plant extracts in preventing photoageing (in cosmetics) and skin cancer (in sunscreens) due to their UV-absorbing capacity and antioxidant activity has been recently reviewed [45,47].…”