Author(s): Oliveira, Ana Isabel ; Pinho, Cláudia ; Quintela Vieira, Ana Filipa ; Silva, Regina ; Cruz, Agostinho
Date: 2022
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/21192
Origin: Repositório Científico do Instituto Politécnico do Porto
Subject(s): Taraxacum; Dandelion; Cancer therapy; Phytochemicals
Cancer is one of the major causes of death universally. Conventional chemotherapeutic agents are associated with severe side effects which limit their general acceptability and leads to a search for alternative efficient and safe options. Plants have been used for centuries as medicinal agents in the treatment of several diseases, including cancer. Dandelion is a plant of the genus Taraxacum and a member of the Asteraceae family with worldwide distribution. It has been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of various disorders, such as gastrointestinal and kidney diseases, dyspepsia, Diabetes mellitus, pneumonia and cancer. The present review aims to provide a comprehensive summary of the main biologically active compounds of dandelion, gathering and describing the information about its anticancer activity. Several in vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated the cytotoxic ability of Taraxacum species, which can be possibly explained by the complexity and diversity of its phytochemical profile. Therefore, dandelion may have the potential to become an effective chemotherapeutic agent despite the need for further studies.
