title: Anticancer activity of essential oils: a review.
abstract: Natural essential oil constituents play an important role in cancer prevention and treatment. Essential oil constituents from aromatic herbs and dietary plants include monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, oxygenated monoterpenes, oxygenated sesquiterpenes and phenolics among others. Various mechanisms such antioxidant, antimutagenic and antiproliferative, enhancement of immune function and surveillance, enzyme induction and enhancing detoxification, modulation of multidrug resistance and synergistic mechanism of volatile constituents are responsible for their chemopreventive properties. This review covers the most recent literature to summarize structural categories and molecular anticancer mechanisms of constituents from aromatic herbs and dietary plants.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, (Pb), 151001, India.
authors.forename: Yashika
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bhalla
authors.forename: Vinay Kumar
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Vikas
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Jaitak
mesh_terms: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010944:Plants / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D010936:Plant Extracts; D010938:Plant Oils
keywords: anticancer mechanisms; essential oils; synergism; terpenes