
02/07/2024
Mangosteen the Cancer Flighter
Mangosteen has been the focus of many anticancer studies, and results have been very positive to date supporting their standing as cancer-fighting foods.
The mangosteen fruit itself is said to contain at least 20 known xanthones, and the majority of those are found in the fruit wall or pericarp.
Findings from research conducted in 2008 by the Gifu International Institute of Biotechnology in Japan showed that one xanthone from mangosteen in particular, known as alpha-mangostin, was found to have a cancer-preventive effect on animal subjects. This study concluded that xanthones should be used as an agent for cancer prevention and as a cancer treatment in combination with other therapies.
A study published in 2016 in the International Journal of Oncology looked at the anticancer activity of mangosteen’s alpha-mangostin on human breast cancer cells. The research indicated that α-mangostin induced programmed cell death of cancer cells, and it was concluded that α-mangostin may be used as a food supplement as well as a potential therapeutic compound for breast cancer.
Skin cancers are often resistant to conventional chemotherapy, but mangosteen has shown the ability to naturally fight cancers of the skin. One study published in Food and Chemical Toxicology examined the anti-skin cancer properties of crude ethanol extract of mangosteen pericarp on human squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma.
The mangosteen extract showed strong anti-skin cancer effects on both skin cancer cell lines, showing its potential as a skin cancer natural treatment.
Research has also shown that xanthones from mangosteen extracts are natural chemopreventive agents and have potential as anticancer drugs. Xanthones from the pericarp, whole fruit, heartwood, and leaf of mangosteen are known to possess a wide spectrum of pharmacologic properties, including antioxidant, anti-tumor, anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral activities.
The ability of xanthones to both prevent and treat cancer has been demonstrated in different stages of cancer formation, including initiation, promotion, and progression. The xanthones have also shown their ability to control cancer cell division and growth, programmed cell death, inflammation, and cancer metastasis.