The effects of thymoquinone on pancreatic cancer: Evidence from preclinical studies
Monica Butnariu, Cristina Quispe, Jesús Herrera‐Bravo, Paweł Helon, Wirginia Kukuła‐Koch, Víctor López, Francisco Les, Cristián Valdés, Pedro Alarcón, Bárbara Alarcón-Zapata, Miquel Martorell, Marius Pentea, Aneta Anca Dragunescu, Ionel Samfira, Zura Yessimsiitova, Sevgi Durna Daştan, Carla Marina Salgado Castillo, Thomas H. Roberts, Javad Sharifi‐Rad, Wojciech Koch, William C. Cho
Abstract
Thymoquinone (TQ) is a secondary metabolite found in abundance in very few plant species including Nigella sativa L., Monarda fistulosa L., Thymus vulgaris L. and Satureja montana L. Preclinical pharmacological studies have shown that TQ has many biological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anticancer. Both in vivo and in vitro experiments have shown that TQ acts as an antitumor agent by altering cell cycle progression, inhibiting cell proliferation, stimulating apoptosis, inhibiting angiogenesis, reducing metastasis and affecting autophagy. In this comprehensive study, the evidence on the pharmacological potential of TQ on pancreatic cancer is reviewed. The positive results of preclinical studies support the view that TQ can be considered as an additional therapeutic agent against pancreatic cancer. The possibilities of success for this compound in human medicine should be further explored through clinical trials.