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©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Jan 15, 2016; 8(1): 30-39
Published online Jan 15, 2016. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v8.i1.30
Published online Jan 15, 2016. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v8.i1.30
Antitumor effects of the benzophenanthridine alkaloid sanguinarine: Evidence and perspectives
Roberta Gaziano, Gabriella Moroni, Cristina Buè, Martino Tony Miele, Paola Sinibaldi-Vallebona, Francesca Pica, Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Author contributions: Gaziano R, Moroni G, Buè C, Miele MT, Sinibaldi-Vallebona P and Pica F contributed to this paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflict of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Francesca Pica, MD, PhD, Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier, 1, 00133 Rome, Italy. pica@uniroma2.it
Telephone: +39-6-72596462 Fax: +39-6-72596550
Received: June 12, 2015
Peer-review started: June 15, 2015
First decision: August 25, 2015
Revised: October 9, 2015
Accepted: November 3, 2015
Article in press: November 4, 2015
Published online: January 15, 2016
Peer-review started: June 15, 2015
First decision: August 25, 2015
Revised: October 9, 2015
Accepted: November 3, 2015
Article in press: November 4, 2015
Published online: January 15, 2016
Core Tip
Core tip: Sanguinarine is a benzophenanthridine alkaloid isolated from the root of Sanguinaria canadensis, and other poppy Fumaria species, which exibits a clear-cut anticancer potential by inducing apoptosis and/or antiproliferative effects on tumor cells. Sanguinarine also shows antiangiogenic and anti-invasive properties, as demonstrated in vitro and in vivo. In consideration of the multiple biological effects of sanguinarine, which suggest its possible use in cancer therapy, further detailed pharmacokinetic and toxicologic studies are required to assess both the efficacy and safety of the compound before proposing a possible translation into the clinic.