Abstract

SPICES- AN ALTERNATIVE THERAPY FOR CANCER TREATMENT

Ruchita Bhagwat* and Renuka Bhagwat

Abstract

Cancer is among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Current therapy available for cancer treatment is associated with number of side effects. The plant sources of India provide effective anticancer agents. Spice Herbs have a vital role in the prevention and treatment of cancer. ethnomedicinal spices used to treat cancer are considerably cheap. Herbal drug treatment can be given to poor people in the rural areas to treat different ancers effectively at an affordable cost. The main mechanisms of action include inducing apoptosis, inhibiting proliferation, migration and invasion of tumours, and sensitizing tumours to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Some of the spice based active constituents which are widely known for their chemo preventive action against various malignancies are curcumin and curcuminoids (turmeric), allicin, allyl isothiocyanate (garlic), gingerol, zingiberene, zingiberene (ginger), piperidine piperine, (black pepper), crocetin, crocin and safranal (saffron) and others. The present review highlights the role of common spices in combating cancer.

Keywords: Spices, Cancer, Carcinogens.