ReviewTapping botanicals for essential oils: Progress and hurdles in cancer mitigation

- Plant essential oils appear very promising for various cancer treatments.
- In vivo studies have been included to lend support to the objective.
- Evidence of cancer patient quality of life improvement by the essential oil therapy has been furnished.
- This work is expected to stimulate bio-prospecting for novel sources of potent therapeutic essential oils.

Essential oils are volatile fractions of plants, obtained by distillation or supercritical fluid extraction. Rich in terpenes and phenylpropanoids, these oils have demonstrated varied pharmacological properties. For their myriad health promoting attributes, they have become quintessential ingredients in cosmetics, toiletries and aromatherapy. They are used to relieve a plethora of disorders like skin issues (acne, wrinkle and flakes), stress, migraine, sore throat, pregnancy complications, cellulite, sciatic nerve, insomnia, allergy, tendonitis, disc pain etc.; however, their ameliorating effect on cancer has grabbed most attention in recent times. Significant suppressive effect of essential oils against neural, oral, lung, breast, liver, pancreas, gastric, ovary, prostate and colon cancers have been witnessed. Diverse mechanisms such as antioxidant, anti-mutagenic, anti-proliferative, apoptosis, immunomodulation, surveillance augmentation, detoxification, interference with multidrug resistance and synergy with chemotherapeutics have been discovered to mediate the anticancer effects. Going by the findings, these aromatic oils can be developed as adjunct therapy for multiple forms of cancers. The literature review based on credible publications illuminates auxiliary therapeutic potential, underlying mechanisms, associated risks and future prospects of essential oils in oncotherapy.

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