Silymarin cancer chemoprevention

In addition to their possible prooxidant activity (see above) polyphenols and flavonoids may influence cancer cells via their antioxidant properties. Recently, Jang et al. [219] studied cancer chemopreventive activity of resveratrol, a natural polyphenolic compound derived from grapes (Chapter 29). These authors showed that resveratrol inhibited the development of preneoplastic lesions in carcinogen-treated mouse mammary glands in culture and inhibited tumorigenesis in a mouse skin cancer model. Flavonoids silymarin and silibinin also exhibited antitumor-promoting effects at the stage I tumor promotion in mouse skin [220] and manifested antiproliferative effects in rat prostate cancer cells [221]. 

Cancer Chemoprevention by Limonene, Perillyl Alcohol, and Silymarin... 

Zhao, J. and Agarwal, R. (1999) Tissue distribution of silibinin, the major active constituent of silymarin, in mice and its association with enhancement of phase II enzymes implications in cancer chemoprevention. Carcinogenesis 20, 2101-2108. 

Jiang, C., Agarwal, R., and Lu, J., Anti-angiogenic potential of a cancer chemopreventive flavonoid antioxidant, silymarin inhibition of key attributes of vascular endothelial cells and angiogenic cytokine secretion by cancer epithelial cells. Biochemical Biophysical Rese. Commun., 276, 371-378, 2000. 

Ahmad N, Gab H, Javed S, Agarwal R. Skin cancer chemopreventive effects of a flavonoid antioxidant silymarin are mediated via impairment of receptor tyrosine kinase signaling and perturbation in cell cycle progression. Biochem Biophys Res Commiin 1998 247 294-301. 

Few plant principles have been as extensively investigated in recent years as silymarin (wEiss). Primary activity is as a hepatoprotec-tive and antioxidant. Anticancer and cancer chemopreventive activities are also drawing interest in addition to other investigated activities. 

Nanoformulated nutraceuticals such as polyphenols and fiavanoids, which are derived from medicinal plants, provide a new insight for cancer treatment. The mechanism of action of these dietary agents in chemoprevention has gained considerable interest in the area of cancer research. This review has presented several mechanisms explaining the chemopreventive potentials of curcumin, EGCG, resveratrol, saponin, silymarin, and GSE. Their ability to target specific... 

Tyagi A, Raina K, Singh RP, Gu M, Agarwal C, Harrison G, Glode LM, Agarwal R (2007) Chemopreventive effects of silymarin and silibinin on N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl) nitrosamine induced urinary bladder carcinogenesis in male ICR mice. Mol Cancer Ther 6 3248-3255... 

The chemopreventive effects of milk thistle have been investigated in various studies. Silybin was found to protect the following organs from chemical- or radiation-induced toxicides rat cardiac muscle cells, kidney cells of rats and monkeys,skin cells of mice, and rat gastric mucosa and pancre-as.3 3 Silymarin was also found to inhibit carcinogenesis in rat colon cells,mice urinary bladder, rat tongue cells, and human breast cancer cells. ... 

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