title: Recent perspectives on the anticancer properties of aqueous extracts of NigerianVernonia amygdalina.
abstract: Innovative developments are necessary for treating and defeating cancer, an oftentimes deadly group of diseases characterized by the uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells. Breast cancer (BC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths of women in the USA, and prostate cancer (PC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths of American men. Although some efficacious BC drugs are pharmaceutically marketed, they affect the quality of life for some patients because they are toxic in that their usages have been accompanied by side effects such as stroke, thrombosis, slow heart rate, seizure, increased blood pressure, nausea, emesis, and more. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the discovery of molecular markers for early detection of this disease and discovery of targets for the development of novel, less toxic therapeutics. A botanical plantVernonia amygdalinahas been widely used in Nigerian and other Central and West African cultures for centuries as an herbal medicine. Mounting evidence suggests that treatment with low concentrations of aqueous leaf extracts of the edible NigerianV. amygdalinaplant (Niger-VA) arrests the proliferative activities and induces apoptosis in estrogen receptor-positive, estrogen receptor-negative, and triple-negative human breast cancerous cells and in androgen-independent human PC-3. Also, in athymic mice, Niger-VA potentiates increased efficacies and optimizes treatment outcomes when given as a cotreatment with conventional chemotherapy drugs. Evidence of its noticeable cytostatic activities ranging from changes in DNA synthesis to growth inhibition, mechanisms of inducing apoptosis in different cancer cell lines, and in vivo antitumorigenic activities and chemopreventive efficacy reinforce the idea that Niger-VA deserves increased attention for further development as a phytoceutical, anticancer drug entity. Hence, the present review article highlights impactful published literature on the anticancer effects of Niger-VA in multiple cancerous cell lines and in a nude mouse model, supporting its potential usefulness as a natural product, chemotherapeutic medicine for treatment of both BC and PC.
authors.affiliation: Breast Cancer Research Laboratory, Research Centers in Minority Institutions, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS, USA; Department of Biology, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS, USA; NIH-Center for Environmental Health, College of Science, Engineering and Technology, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS, USA.
authors.forename: Carolyn Bingham
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Howard
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS, USA; NIH-Center for Environmental Health, College of Science, Engineering and Technology, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS, USA.
authors.forename: William K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Shehla
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pervin
authors.affiliation: Benson Idahosa University, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Ernest B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Izevbigie
keywords: anticancer agents; antitumorigenic agents; breast cancer; chemopreventive natural products; prostate cancer