Context: Complementary and alternative medicines are currently being investigated for their usefulness in preventing, inhibiting, and reversing the progression of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Botanicals have great potential in cancer prevention because of their safety, low cost, and oral bioavailability.
Objective: In this review, potential natural OSCCs' preventive botanicals and their mechanisms of action will be discussed.
Methods: A brief bibliometric overview was conducted to obtain the available information of possible relevance to the issue. To this end, PubMed, Google and Google Scholar were interrogated for articles published in English between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2010, that discuss botanicals and which could possibly be used in treating OSCC. The search was done to identify reports of botanicals' chemoprevention of OSCC. The study outcomes were evaluated and mechanisms of action were identified whenever possible.
Results: A wide range of such botanicals had been shown to prevent 7, 12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene or 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide induced OSCC in animal model systems. However, only a few have been tested for their efficacy in humans. Animal model and cell culture studies have clarified that botanicals act by several mechanisms at various stages of OSCC.
Discussion and Conclusions: By utilizing botanicals demonstrating potential mechanisms for efficacy, it is possible to maximize the chances of favorable outcomes while minimizing discomfort associated with conventional therapies.