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Anticancer potential of quercetin: A comprehensive review

A. Rauf, Muhammad Imran, I. Khan, Mujeeb-Ur-Rehman, Syed Amir Gilani, Zaffar Mehmood, M. S. Mubarak

Phytotherapy Research, 2018

665 citations

Abstract

Diet plays a key role to maintaining healthy life. Many natural products present in our diet, such as flavonoids, can prevent the progression of cancer. Quercetin, a distinctive bioactive flavonoid, is a dietary component that has attracted the attention of dietitians and medicinal chemists due to its numerous health‐promoting effects. It is an outstanding antioxidant that has a well‐documented role in reducing different human cancers. Quercetin exhibits direct proapoptotic effects on tumor cells and thus can inhibit the progress of numerous human cancers. The anticancer effect of quercetin has been documented in numerous in vitro and in vivo studies that involved several cell lines and animal models. On the other hand, the high toxic effect of quercetin against cancer cells is accompanied with little or no side effects or harm to normal cells. Accordingly, this review presents an overview of recent developments on the use of quercetin against different types of cancer along with mechanisms of action. In addition, the present review summarizes the literature pertaining to quercetin as an anticancer agent and provides an assessment of the potential utilization of this natural compound as a complimentary or alternative medicine for preventing and treating cancer.

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a review, done in animal and cell cultures (in vitro), not in people. Its evidence level is 5 of 5 (Very low · case / narrative / animal / in vitro / in silico). Case reports, narrative reviews, and animal, cell or computer-model studies give the weakest evidence for human health.

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