Title:Baicalein - An Intriguing Therapeutic Phytochemical in Pancreatic Cancer
Volume: 13
Issue: 14
Author(s): Graham Donald, Kathleen Hertzer and Guido Eibl
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Apoptosis, baicalein, bioavailability, pancreatic cancer, phytochemical, prevention, treatment
Abstract: Despite advances in therapy for many of the most common cancers, advances which have led to corresponding
improvements in survival rates, progress on the pancreatic cancer front have been slow and mortality rates remain startlingly
high. New therapeutic strategies are needed. Phytochemicals are naturally occurring, plant-based substances that
have garnered much interest in the research world for their anti-cancer properties, both as therapeutics and as components
of the diet for chemoprevention. One particularly ubiquitous group of phytochemicals is the polyphenolic flavonoids. Baicalein,
one such flavonoid, which has been widely studied in several malignancies, shows potent activity against pancreatic
adenocarcinoma in both in vitro and in vivo studies. The mechanisms by which baicalein accomplishes this have recently
been elucidated, and is through an induction of apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells that are fiercely resistant to cell
death. Compounds such as baicalein, offer promise in dietary chemoprevention, as chemotherapeutic adjuvants, or as targeted
therapy.
