Evaluation of the Efficacy of Dandelion Root and Lemongrass Extracts on Prostate Cancer

Current conventional approaches to cancer treatment have proven effective in treating many patients but have been shown to inadvertently cause severe side effects including organ damage and toxicity. Natural health products (NHPs) are generally plant-based products that have been shown to have some form of medicinal properties. Many chemotherapeutic compounds, such as taxol (from paclitaxel) have been derived from NHPs. NHPs have a potential to be an alternative to chemotherapeutic drugs. Indeed, some NHPs have been shown to have high anti-cancer efficacy, with minimal side effects. In addition, because many NHPs are well tolerated, they may be given over a long treatment periods and can be used as a preventative treatment. Previously, our lab has shown anti-cancer efficacy of dandelion root extract (DRE) in leukemia and colon cancer, and lemongrass extract in colon cancer. Furthermore, the interaction of these NHPs with currently used chemotherapies is not known. Our objective was to analyze the anti-cancer properties of DRE and lemongrass extracts on human prostate cancer. This was done by examining the efficacy of these extracts in vitro by assessing the viability, proliferation, and cell death of treated prostate cancer cells and in vivo on tumour xenographed mice models. In addition, we assessed if any drug-drug interactions exist in treatments of NHPs in combination with commonly used chemotherapeutics such as taxol (paclitaxel) and mitoxantrone. Preliminary results have shown that DRE and lemongrass extract treatments show anti-cancer efficacy and show neutral to positive synergy between NHP treatment and chemotherapeutics. If successful, this research has the potential to be developed into safer anti-cancer agents and possibly brought to market for human use.