Therapeutic Potential of Natural Products in Treatment of Cervical Cancer: A Review

Abstract

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women worldwide. Though several natural products have been reported regarding their efficacies against cervical cancer, there has been no review article that categorized them according to their anti-cancer mechanisms. In this study, anti-cancerous natural products against cervical cancer were collected using Pubmed (including Medline) and google scholar, published within three years. Their mechanisms were categorized as induction of apoptosis, inhibition of angiogenesis, inhibition of metastasis, reduction of resistance, and regulation of miRNAs. A total of 64 natural products suppressed cervical cancer. Among them, Penicillium sclerotiorum extracts from Cassia fistula L., ethanol extracts from Bauhinia variegate candida, thymoquinone obtained from Nigella sativa, lipid-soluble extracts of Pinellia pedatisecta Schott., and 1′S-1′-acetoxychavicol extracted from Alpinia conchigera have been shown to have multi-effects against cervical cancer. In conclusion, natural products could be attractive candidates for novel anti-cancer drugs.

Onosma mutabilis: Phytochemical composition, antioxidant, cytotoxicity, and acute oral toxicity

“…Another study reported that herbal medicine is used as a curative agent by 50% of breast cancer and by 37% of prostate cancer patients (Richardson, 2001 ). Previous preclinical studies showed the efficacy of natural compounds to inhibit human cervical carcinoma and other cancers (Park et al., 2021 ); (Aung et al., 2017 ). However, most of them have not been well screened for their biological activity, especially their cytotoxicity effect.…”

Elucidation of rutin’s role in inducing caspase-dependent apoptosis via HPV-E6 and E7 down-regulation in cervical cancer HeLa cells

“…Hence, various anticancer agents such as phytocompounds can directly disturb mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis leading to an extensive ATP depletion, which then congregate with intrinsic apoptotic (death) pathway [ 46 ]. ROS are byproducts of cellular metabolism inside mitochondria and elevated ROS levels are often linked with DNA fragmentation, cellular damage and apoptosis [ 47 ]. Our data clearly indicate that rutin-induced apoptosis in HeLa cancer cells via ROS-mediated mitochondrial pathway.…”

The Involvement of Natural Polyphenols in the Chemoprevention of Cervical Cancer

“…Non-Coding RNA: MicroRNA MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, non-coding single-stranded RNA fragments that regulate cellular processes through transcriptional repression and degradation of messenger RNA (mRNA) [59]. miRNA binds to the mRNA by sequence-specific base pairing with both 3'-untranslated regions of the target fragment and regions that can be realized by complete or partial complementary [5,57,59]. When miRNA binds to mRNA via imperfect complementary, translational repression will occur not only in a single fragment of mRNA, but also in tens to hundreds of different mRNAs.…”

“…Radiotherapy could yield menopause, discomfort, pain with intercourse, or maybe infertility, while chemotherapy may induce cytotoxicity in the whole body, not only in tumoral cells. Furthermore, cisplatin or other drugs that are usually prescribed for cervical cancer can also lead to major side effects or even drug resistance [5]. In the last decade, studies have shown strong evidence that natural compounds such as polyphenols or other phytochemicals can potentially regulate gene expression by targeting different components of the genetic and epigenetic machinery [4].…”