Essential oils: from prevention to treatment of skin cancer

P S Pavithra; Alka Mehta; Rama S Verma

doi:10.1016/j.drudis.2018.11.020

Essential oils: from prevention to treatment of skin cancer

Drug Discov Today. 2019 Feb;24(2):644-655. doi: 10.1016/j.drudis.2018.11.020. Epub 2018 Nov 30.

Authors

P S Pavithra¹, Alka Mehta¹, Rama S Verma²

Affiliations

¹ School of BioSciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore 632 014, India.
² Department of Biotechnology, Bhupat and Jyoti Mehta School of Biosciences, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600 036, India. Electronic address: vermars@iitm.ac.in.

PMID: 30508640
DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2018.11.020

Abstract

The increasing incidence of cutaneous malignancies signifies the need for multiple treatment options. Several available reviews have emphasized the potential role of various botanical extracts and naturally occurring compounds as anti-skin-cancer agents. Few studies relate to the role of chemoprevention and therapeutic activity of essential oils (EOs) and EO components. The present review summarizes an overview of chemopreventive, anti-melanoma and anti-nonmelanoma activities of EOs from various plants and EO components in in vitro and in vivo models with special emphasis on skin cancer. Also, the mechanisms by which EOs and EO components exert their effects to induce cell death are presented.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Humans
Melanoma / drug therapy*
Melanoma / prevention & control*
Oils, Volatile / therapeutic use*
Skin / drug effects
Skin Neoplasms / drug therapy*
Skin Neoplasms / prevention & control*

Substances

Oils, Volatile