From the hive: Honey, a novel weapon against cancer

摘要

Abstract Nowadays there is a folk medicine branch called apitherapy that aims to treat diseases with bee products, including honey. Honey has long been known for its medicinal and health promoting properties. It encloses numerous types of phytochemicals with high phenolic and ?avonoid content, which contribute to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Varieties and variants of polyphenols in honey showed antiproliferative property against several types of cancer. This review focuses on the latest discoveries about the key role of honey in different stages of carcinogenesis, initiation, proliferation and progression, both in?vitro and in?vivo , as well as on its adjuvant effect in cancer therapy. Although a possible application of honey and its active compounds as drugs against cancer is still far away from clinical practice, scientific results highlight that they could be used as immune booster for patients undergoing chemotherapy. They showed protective effects against the common exasperating and disabling side effects, mostly mucositis. Graphical abstract Display Omitted Highlights ? Honey, as functional food, has health promoting and medicinal properties. ? The antioxidant property of honey plays a central role in its chemopreventive effect. ? The anticancer activity of honey is mainly pro-apoptotic and acting on cell cycle. ? Honey ameliorates the side effects related to chemotherapy.