Silymarin and epithelial cancer chemoprevention: How close we are to bedside?

Abstract

Failure and high systemic toxicity of conventional cancer therapies have accelerated the focus on the search for newer agents, which could prevent and/or slow-down cancer growth and have more human acceptability by being less or non-toxic. Silymarin is one such agent, which has been extensively used since ages for the treatment of liver conditions, and thus has possibly the greatest patient acceptability. In recent years, increasing body of evidence has underscored the cancer preventive efficacy of silymarin in both in vitro and in vivo animal models of various epithelial cancers. Apart from chemopreventive effects, other noteworthy aspects of silymarin and its active constituent silibinin in cancer treatment include their capability to potentiate the efficacy of known chemotherapeutic drugs, as an inhibitor of multidrug resistance associated proteins, and as an adjunct to the cancer therapeutic drugs due to their organ-protective efficacy specifically liver, and immunostimulatory effects. Widespread use of silymarin for liver health in humans and commercial availability of its formulations with increased bioavailability, further underscore the necessity of carrying out controlled clinical trials with these agents in cancer patients. In this review, we will briefly discuss the outcomes of clinical trials being conducted by us and others in cancer patients to provide insight into the clinical relevance of the observed chemopreventive effects of these agents in various epithelial cancer models.

Silymarin Attenuated the Amyloid β Plaque Burden and Improved Behavioral Abnormalities in an Alzheimer’s Disease Mouse Model

“…46) Moreover, silymarin treatment prevents skin and other types of cancer. [47][48][49][50] In the present study, we demonstrated the antiamyloid properties of silymarin in vitro (Figs. 1, 2), and found that chronic administration of it (half a year) significantly reduced the A plaque burden associated with microglial activation (Figs.…”

Inhibition of Leptin and Leptin Receptor Gene Expression by Silibinin-Curcumin Combination

“…The current work, however, aimed to direct inhibition of leptin expression and secretion in human T47D breast cancer cell line using herbal compounds. Due to the significant anti-cancer effects of silibinin and curcumin on various types of cancers such as prostate, skin, colon, bladder and breast (Kaur and Agarwal, 2007;Sareen et al, 2013), they can be used as chemotherapeutic agents for breast cancer therapy. More recently, evidence is emerging that specific combinations of phytochemicals may be far more effective in protecting against cancer than isolated compounds (de Kok et al, 2008).…”

Evaluation of the Immunomodulatory Effects of Silymarin Extract (<I>Silybum Marianum</I>) on Some Immune Parameters of Rainbow Trout, <I>Oncorhynchus Mykiss</I> (Actinopterygii: Salmoniformes: Salmonidae)

“…The active constituents of S. marianum may strengthen or stimulate the immune response by interacting with various parameters of the immune system. The reported positive effect of herbal medicine has been expressed by a number of mechanisms, e.g., inhibition of tumor necrosis factor TNF-α, interferon IFN-γ, interleukin IL-2, IL-4, and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-ĸB) activation in rat (Wilasrusmee et al 2002, Ardestani andYazdanparast 2007), inhibition of fibrosis in rat (Jia et al 2001), inhibition of inflammation (Kaur andAgarwal 2007, Ramasamy andAgarwal 2008), immunomodulation in mice (Schümann et al 2003), inhibition of mitochondrial injury in rat (Rolo et al 2003), inhibition of P450 activity in human liver microsomes (Beckmann-Knopp et al 2000), antioxidant properties and inhibition of lipid peroxidation in rat and fish (Han et al 2007, Toklu et al 2007, Banaee et al 2011, enhancement of RNA, DNA (Sonnenbichler et al 1984), protein synthesis in liver tissue of rainbow trout (Banaee et al 2011), regulation of cell permeability (Kiruthiga et al 2007, Basiglio et al 2009), and adjustment of enzyme levels activity in plasma (Banaee et al 2011).…”