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Benefits of Black Cumin Seed and Oil in Cancer

Table of Contents

Synopsis

Chemotherapy
is still today one of the main (and often the only one) treatment options for
cancer patients. Several chemotherapy agents have been developed over the
course of the last decades, but due to their cytotoxic action, most of them
still force patients to endure significant adverse reactions such as
incoercible vomit, myelosuppression, alopecia and mucositis1.

Therapies

Doxorubicin
is an anthracycline antitumor antibiotic used as a chemotherapy drug for
treating several types of malignancies, including leukemia, solid tumors and
soft tissue sarcomas. Doxorubicin if frequently used as a component in many
chemotherapy regimens. One of the most known and dangerous side effects of
doxorubicin is a life-threatening cardiotoxicity that may lead to congestive
heart failure. Recently black cumin oil (Nigella
sativa
) has been found to be able to protect against doxorubicin
cardiotoxicity without compromising its cytotoxic action2.

Science

Black cumin seed oil has been suggested as an adjuvant therapy in cancer treatment due to the properties of its bioactive antioxidant component: the thymoquinone (TQ). Doxorubicin cardiotoxicity is caused by increased oxidative stress that induces toxic damage to the cardiac cells. TQ does not diminish doxorubicin’s effectiveness as it does not alter plasma levels of the drug, but it does prevent its cardiotoxicity by reducing the production of oxygen-free radicals (ROS) that are deemed responsible of the doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy3. Other studies even found how TQ could even improve the anti-tumor properties of doxorubicin in some specific cancer cell lines4.

REFERENCE LINKS:

1. Corrie
PG, Pippa G. (2008). “Cytotoxic chemotherapy: clinical aspects”.
Medicine 36 (1): 24–28. doi:10.1016/j.mpmed.2007.10.012

2. Ahmad A,
Husain A, Mujeeb M, et al. A review on therapeutic potential of Nigella sativa:
A miracle herb. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine.
2013;3(5):337-352. doi:10.1016/S2221-1691(13)60075-1.

3. al-Shabanah,
O. A.; Badary, O. A.; Nagi, M. N.; al-Gharably, N. M.; al-Rikabi, A. C.;
al-Bekairi, A. M. (1998-06-01). “Thymoquinone protects against
doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity without compromising its antitumor
activity”. Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research: CR 17
(2): 193–198. ISSN 0392-9078. PMID 9700580.

4. Effenberger-Neidnicht,
Katharina; Schobert, Rainer (2010-06-26). “Combinatorial effects of
thymoquinone on the anti-cancer activity of doxorubicin”. Cancer
Chemotherapy and Pharmacology 67 (4): 867–874. doi:10.1007/s00280-010-1386-x. ISSN
0344-5704.

Authors:

Dr. Claudio
Butticè, PharmD.

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