Nanotechnology and Natural Products as Novel Anti-cancer Therapy

Cancer is a terrible disease, characterized by uncontrolled growth of cells. There are many different forms of cancer, but they do have several commonalities, some of which appear to be affected by curcumin supplementation. Researchers have been studying curcumin as a beneficial herb in cancer treatment. It can affect cancer growth, development and spread at the molecular level. Studies have shown that it can reduce angiogenesis (growth of new blood vessels in tumors), metastasis (spread of cancer), as well as contributing to the death of cancerous cells. Multiple studies have shown that curcumin can reduce the growth of cancerous cells in the laboratory and inhibit the growth

The earth’s tropical forests are major contributors to the treatment of diseases and the relief of suffering. Covering only 6% of the Earth's surface, tropical moist forests contain at least half of all species. Rainforest plants are the source of compounds useful for medicinal purposes. The abundant plant resources of tropical forests have already provided solid medical advances, yet only 1% of the known plant species have been thoroughly examined for their medicinal potentials. 70% of the 3000 plants identified by the United States National Cancer Institute as having potential anti-cancer properties are endemic to the rainforest.

What are some of the things that come to mind when you think of cancer treatments? Perhaps you envision some sort of chemotherapy treatment, or a bottle of expensive pills used to target specific genetic mutations that may have caused the horrid disease to develop. While these treatments have been proven to save some of cancers victims, research suggests that there is a natural cure that deems promising in curing cancer.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death. What if there was a safe, natural herb that could work for nearly every type of cancer?

Only one percent of the known plant and animal species have been examined for medicine potential, but 70% of the 3000 plant species identified as having anti-cancer qualities are found in South American rainforests and others worldwide. These various species aid the science world in a number of different ways:

Cancer or the big C as it is commonly referred to by laymen is a scary word for people to hear or discuss. The exact cause of cancer is unknown, but is believed to be caused by many elements, including diet, chemicals, tobacco, radiation, and mutations that occur in the human body, as well as defective cells and genes. Experts know that cancer requires oxygen and nutrients to grow more cancer cells. The paper will explore the concept of angiogenesis, what it is, and how it impacts cancer, along with exploring activators and inhibitors to stop the growth of cancer. Natural products will be reviewed to highlight any potential value in eliminating and reducing the risks of getting any type of cancer.

Other complementary and alternative treatments can be found in common foods that are consumed every day on a regular basis in the United States and are a little more commonly known to the average American, unlike the use of medicinal mushrooms. Simple dietary supplements, such as green tea and pomegranate fruit juice or extract can have powerful effects on cancer and the human body. Take for example green tea, which contains several polyphenols that

The Autumn Crocus, also known as meadow saffron, is not threatened and is sold as an ornamental plant since it has been cultivated in much of the world (Akram 2012). Although colchicine is typically used for treatment of gout and rheumatic complaints, there has been renewed interest in this medicine by many natural product researchers (Heran 2011). Further research of colchicine derived from the Autumn Crocus as a cancer fighting drug should be conducted due to ability to block cell

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. As of 1990, there has been estimated 5 million people who have been taken by the disease. Every one of four people in the U.S will die of cancer, averaging at 1,500 people per day. There are many things in our daily lives that contribute to the growth and spread of cancer. The food and chemical industries take the blame. Naming it the “man made disease.” What many people do not understand is that there are other treatment options rather than chemo and radiation therapy. One of these alternative treatments is natural medicine. Natural medicine is beneficial because people have

Paclitaxel works to treat cancers because it breakdowns the microtubules during cell division. Microtubules are part of the cell that is known for dividing and replicating itself. So by implementing this natural product in the process of chemotherapy it aims to target rapidly reproducing tumor cells in order to slow down or eliminate cancer. Taxol is in fact a natural product that is found in the yew pine tree that happens to grow very slowly. The bark of the tree needs to be peeled off in order to obtain the paclitaxel that so happens to kill the tree in the process. Some Paclitaxel has become essential in the medical field that it is on the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines. In the case of producing the important drug where was a new way to create the drug faster since it takes a lot of time to create the drug naturally. According to A New Synthesis of Taxol from Baccatin III by Erkan Baloglu, “The partial synthesis of Taxol is very important when compared to that of direct isolation of Taxol from the western yew, since the availability of baccatin III or 10-DAB is greater than that of Taxol. Another advantage of the semi-synthetic approach is that various Taxol analogs, such as Taxotere, which may have improved bioactivity as compared with Taxol, can also be synthesized”(pg.32). Meaning that in this case producing medicine in a semisynthetic production it would yield equal results compared to the natural extraction of Taxol; however the semisynthetic can be produced in a faster mater compared to the natural form. The only difference in the performance and effectiveness of natural and synthesized (semi-synthesized taxon) is Taxotere, also known as Docetaxel that happens to be a production of the synthesized product. This products is twice as strong in potency compared to paclitaxel however, paclitaxel may cause fewer side

It is said, not by fact but theory, that the cure for cancer is in herbs.

Just imagine, for a moment, if a cure was found. Imagine the possibility that there are currently very effective holistic treatments. If they came into wide usage, imagine:

Some people falsely assume that because naturopathic medicine comes from the earth, it must not be a very effective alternative cancer treatment option. Maybe, they have tried it, but the results were too inconsistent, or it didn't seem to do anything at all. This is partly due to the multitude of companies who do not standardize the herbal remedy products that they sell. If pulled off of store shelves to be analyzed, one would find that most herbal remedy capsules and tinctures have very little of the key active ingredient. Don't let this deter you from using them though. Find a company that guarantees the quality and purity of their herbal remedies, and talk to your naturopath about including some of the following known cancer-fighting herbs

In vitro enzyme-inhibitory assay-guided fractionation of Polygonum hyrcanicum extract resulted in the purification of 13 phenolic compounds as the active constituents. Based on NMR data, the purified compounds of Polygonum hyrcanicum were identified as quercetin (1) [17], myricetin (2) [17], N-trans-caffeoyl-tyramine (3) [18], quercetin 3-O-α-L-(3",5"-diacetyl-arabinofuranoside) (4) [19], quercetin 3-O-α-L-(3"-acetyl-arabinofuranoside) (5) [20], myricetin 3-O-α-L-(3",5"-diacetyl-arabinofuranoside) (6) [21], (+) catechin (7) [22], (-) gallocatechin (8) [22], myricetin 3-O-β-D-galactopyranoside (9) [23], myricetin 3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (myricitrin) (10) [23], quercetin 3-O-β-D-galactopyranoside (11) [24], myricetin 3-O-α-L-arabinofuranoside

One of the most famous and the world's first billion anticancer drug, taxol, a highly, was originally isolated from the Pacific yew tree in the early 1960s. The drug has been approved for the treatment of ovarian cancer by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1992. Taxol was also observed active against the lung, breast, and head and neck cancer, and also in the advanced forms of Kaposi's sarcoma (in people with AIDS). Taxol (mitotic inhibitor) has a unique mechanism of action, involving breakdown of microtubule during cell division (1). Besides its clinical application, taxol is being extensively used as microtubule stabilizer in biological and biomedical research. Taxol is found extremely in low amounts in the needles, bark, and roots