The Therapeutic Potential of Common Herbal and Nano-Based Herbal Formulations against Ovarian Cancer: New Insight into the Current Evidence

Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2021 Dec 17;14(12):1315. doi: 10.3390/ph14121315.

Abstract

Ovarian cancer (OCa) is characterized as one of the common reasons for cancer-associated death in women globally. This gynecological disorder is chiefly named the "silent killer" due to lacking an association between disease manifestations in the early stages and OCa. Because of the disease recurrence and resistance to common therapies, discovering an effective therapeutic way against the disease is a challenge. According to documents, some popular herbal formulations, such as curcumin, quercetin, and resveratrol, can serve as an anti-cancer agent through different mechanisms. However, these herbal products may be accompanied by some pharmacological limitations, such as poor bioavailability, instability, and weak water solubility. On the contrary, using nano-based material, e.g., nanoparticles (NPs), micelles, liposomes, can significantly solve these limitations. Therefore, in the present study, we will summarize the anti-cancer aspects of these herbal and-nano-based herbal formulations with a focus on their mechanisms against OCa.

Keywords: curcumin; herbal medicine; nanotechnology; quercetin; resveratrol.

Publication types

  • Review