A Scoping Review on Cucumis melo and Its Anti-Cancer Properties

Abstract

Cucumis melo L., better known by its popular cultivar cantaloupe, is an economically significant crop in the Cucurbitaceae family. Melon peel and seeds have shown medicinal potential due to their numerous biological qualities, including anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, antibacterial, hepatoprotective and immunomodulatory effects to treat cardiovascular disease, diabetes and oedema. This scoping review aims to broaden the research scope on the cancer-fighting abilities of melon extract and its half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀). Three databases which are Scopus, ScienceDirect and PubMed were used to locate relevant publications utilising the keywords 'melon', 'Cucumis melo', 'inhibitory activity', 'cancer' and 'anti-cancer'. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic and Meta-analyses extension for Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR) framework was used in conducting this study. Out of 904 articles, 14 articles met the inclusion criteria and were used in this analysis. These articles were published in English between 2000 and 2023 with full text accessibility, specifically addressed the fruit cantaloupe (Cucumis melo L.) or melon and reported on any type of cancer. Cucumis melo extract showed promising anti-cancer action in both in vitro and in vivo investigations on eight different cancer types: cervical, colon, prostate, leukaemia, multiple myeloma, breast, hepatoma and ovarian cancer. A thorough analysis shows that some of the IC₅₀ values were significantly low, especially in cases of colon and prostate cancer, indicating a significant anti-cancer effect. The substantial anti-cancer benefits of Cucumis melo fruit extracts point to the necessity for additional investigation into their potential for cancer therapy on each form of cancer.

Keywords: Cucumis melo; anti-cancer; half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50); in vitro; in vivo.

Figure 1

PRISMA-ScR by Tricco et al. (13) flow diagram of study selection