Advances in the roles of glycyrrhizic acid in cancer therapy

Abstract

Since the first 70 years of reporting cancer chemotherapy, malignant tumors have been the second most common cause of death in children and adults. Currently, the commonly used anti-cancer methods include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy. Although these treatment methods could alleviate cancer, they lead to different forms of side effects and have no particularly significant effect on prolonging the patients' life span. Glycyrrhizic acid (GL), a native Chinese herbal extract, has a wide range of pharmacological effects, such as anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and immune regulation. In this review, the anti-cancer effects and mechanisms of GL are summarized in various cancers. The inhibition of GL on chemotherapy-induced side effects, including hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, genotoxicity, neurotoxicity and pulmonary toxicity, is highlighted. Therefore, GL may be a promising and ideal drug for cancer therapy.

Keywords: anti-cancer; cancer; glycyrrhizic acid; mechanisms; side effects.

FIGURE 1

Structural formula of GL.

FIGURE 2

Anti-cancer mechanism diagram of GL. GL mainly plays an important role in various cancers by inhibiting the proliferation of cancer cells, inducing cell apoptosis through its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and immune regulatory effects, and inducing cell cycle arrest.

FIGURE 3

Mechanism diagram of GL reducing toxic side effects. GL could inhibit a series of side effects such as nephrotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, genotoxicity, neurotoxicity and lung toxicity in cancer treatment by inhibiting the release of inflammatory factors, inhibiting apoptosis and clearing ROS. Fundamentally speaking, GL mainly reduces a series of tissue damage in the process of tumor treatment through its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, thus effectively reducing the side effects of tumor treatment.