title: Baicalein--an intriguing therapeutic phytochemical in pancreatic cancer.
abstract: Despite advances in therapy for many of the most common cancers, advances which have led to corresponding improvements in survival rates, progress on the pancreatic cancer front have been slow and mortality rates remain startlingly high. New therapeutic strategies are needed. Phytochemicals are naturally occurring, plant-based substances that have garnered much interest in the research world for their anti-cancer properties, both as therapeutics and as components of the diet for chemoprevention. One particularly ubiquitous group of phytochemicals is the polyphenolic flavonoids. Baicalein, one such flavonoid, which has been widely studied in several malignancies, shows potent activity against pancreatic adenocarcinoma in both in vitro and in vivo studies. The mechanisms by which baicalein accomplishes this have recently been elucidated, and is through an induction of apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells that are fiercely resistant to cell death. Compounds such as baicalein, offer promise in dietary chemoprevention, as chemotherapeutic adjuvants, or as targeted therapy.
authors.affiliation: UCLA Center for Excellence in Pancreatic Diseases, Department of Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Graham
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Donald
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hertzer
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Eibl
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004032:Diet / Q000639:trends; D044950:Flavanones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D000975:Antioxidants; D044950:Flavanones; C006680:baicalein