Recent advances in ginseng as cancer therapeutics: a functional and mechanistic overview

Abstract

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Ginseng, a key ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine, shows great promise as a new treatment option. As listed by the U.S. National Institutes of Health as a complementary and alternative medicine, its anti-cancer functions are being increasingly recognized. This review covers the mechanisms of action of ginsenosides and their metabolites, which can modulate signaling pathways associated with inflammation, oxidative stress, angiogenesis, metastasis, and stem/progenitor-like properties of cancer cells. The emerging use of structurally modified ginsenosides and recent clinical studies on the use of ginseng either alone or in combination with other herbs or Western medicines which are exploited as novel therapeutic strategies will also be explored.

Ascorbyl palmitate/d-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate monoester mixed micelles for prolonged circulation and targeted delivery of compound K for antilung cancer therapy in vitro and in vivo

“…Nude mice were used for investigating the antitumor efficacy in vivo when tumor volume reached 50 mm 3 . The mice were randomly divided into three treatment groups (five in each group).…”

“…2,3 Compound K (CK) is one of the major metabolites of ginsenosides that exhibits maximal antitumor effect. 4,5 However, its low water solubility, poor permeability, and significant P-gp efflux restrict its application.…”

“…Targeted effect of Dir-loaded mixed micelles in vivo A549 cell suspension was inoculated into nude mice via a hypodermic injection, and the mice were divided into two groups (n=3) when the tumor volume reached ∼150 mm 3 . The mice were then administered DiR or DiR mixed micelles via tail vein injections for imaging study, anesthetized via isoflurane, and evaluated at 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 h using the IVIS 200 imaging system (PerkinElmer, Hopkinton, MA, USA) at an excitation/emission wavelength of 625/700 nm, respectively.…”

Differential Cytotoxicity of Penta-O-galloyl-β-D-glucose in Human Cancer and Normal Cell Lines of Various Origins

“…Although, various treatments such as surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and others have been successfully applied for cancer therapy, more efficient and economic treatments are required to increase the survival rate of cancer patients. Several glycoside compounds, including amygdalin (cyanogenic glycoside) from mainly bitter almonds, plant saponins and ginseng are often used as anti-cancer drugs in chemotherapy treatment [10,30,34]. Recently, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6-Penta-Ogalloyl-β-D-glucose (PGG) found in many plant species, a simple hydrolysable tannin, has been considered as a candidate anti-cancer drug.…”

A Glimpse of Panax ginseng Genome Structure Revealed from Ten BAC Clone Sequences Obtained by SMRT Sequencing Platform

“…It has been cultivated as an important medicinal crop for hundreds of years (Park et al 2012a). Various types of ginsenosides biosynthesized in ginseng show numerous therapeutic effects on human, such as anti-wrinkle (So et al 2008), anti-stress (Kumar et al 2016), boosts the immune system (Quan et al 2007), controls symptoms of diabetes (Xie et al 2005), Alzheimer's disease (Lee et al 2007) and cancer (Wong et al 2015). Despite its excellent pharmacological effects and many studies on efficacy of their medicinal components, breeding or genetic studies are still limited in this plant species.…”