Frankincense Essential Oil as a Supportive Therapy for Cancer-Related Fatigue: A Case Study

"Like one part of a puzzle" - individualized aromatherapy for women with gynecological cancers in aftercare: results from a qualitative-focused mixed-methods study

BACKGROUND

Gynecological cancer(s), including breast cancer patients in aftercare and survivors, need supportive strategies to cope with symptoms that are adapted to their individual needs and circumstances. Aromatherapy has potential to be such strategy, but (qualitative) empirical research taking users' own views into consideration about the potential and challenge of aromatherapy is lacking.

PURPOSE

The purpose of the study is to gain insights from individualized aromatherapy as a supportive care treatment, regarding their use and evaluation by women with gynecological cancers in aftercare.

METHODS

We conducted a study with a mixed-methods design, focused on qualitative research. Five essential oil products were given to 18 participants to apply individually over a 4-week period. After the intervention, qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted. Further, we documented and assessed symptomatic burdens of the women (MYMOP2) before and after intervention quantitatively.

RESULTS

Aromatherapy was customized by the participants according to their needs. It showed potential for relief of symptomatic burdens - especially nausea, peripheral neuropathy, pain, and sleep. Additionally, opportunities emerged to indirectly affect symptomatic burdens. These developed out of new coping strategies (e.g., sleep routines) or by combining with existing strategies (e.g., meditation). Furthermore, aromatherapy was successfully used to promote well-being and encourage mindfulness.

CONCLUSION

Our findings demonstrated the potential of aromatherapy as a supportive treatment modality that can be used as a kind of toolbox. Challenges, such as individual odor aversions and intolerances, and limitations due to medication or illness should be considered in future aromatherapy research.

Frankincense essential oil nanoemulsion specifically induces lung cancer apoptosis and inhibits survival pathways

Background

The volatile fraction of frankincense (Boswellia sacra) oleogum was extracted, formulated in nanoemulsion and tested against lung cancer A549 cell line. First, the gum was hydro-distilled to isolate the volatile fraction (essential oil), which was analyzed via gas chromatography to identify its major volatile constituents. Then, the oil was formulated in two water-based nanoemulsions which differ from one another in the presence of propylene glycol (PG), which is used in the formulation step as a co-surfactant. The pure essential oil as well as its major volatile compound (α-pinene), its two nanoemulsions and a reference drug (Doxorubicin) were evaluated against lung cancer A549 cell lines and WI-38 normal lung cells. The evaluation included cytotoxicity (MTT and IC50), apoptosis (flow cytometric analysis) in addition to genetic assessments for some intrinsic and extrinsic genes relevant to apoptosis and survival pathways.

Results

Chromatographic analysis of frankincense essential oil revealed that α-pinene is the major volatile compound which constituent about 60% of that oil. Emulsification of the oil using the low energy technique gave nanoemulsions having major intense particles population (85–90%) with z-average diameter below 20.0 nm. Frankincense oil nanoemulsion fabricated with (PG) showed the best cytotoxic activity toward lung cancer A549 cell compared to PG-free nanoemulsion, α-pinene and the reference drug doxorubicin, along different incubation periods. Flow cytometric analysis also indicated that PG-containing nanoemulsion can induce cancer cells toward apoptosis better than the other formula and the pure oils. The same nanoemulsion was found to upregulate the pro-apoptotic genes [DR5, FAAD, Caspase 8 (Cas8), p53, and Bax] and downregulate the anti-apoptotic and reoccurrence genes (Bcl-2, NF-kB, and STAT-3). Most importantly, the PG-containing nanoemulsion had the least cytotoxic effect on the normal WI-38 lung cells.

Conclusions

These results point out to the potentials of frankincense essential oil (rich in α-pinene) and its PG-nanoemulsion as a promising adjuvant from plant-source to potentiate the activity of the systematic anti-lung cancer drugs.

Review of the Chemical Composition, Pharmacological Effects, Pharmacokinetics, and Quality Control of Boswellia carterii

OBJECTIVE

This review aimed to systematically summarize studies that investigated the bioactivities of compounds and extracts from Boswellia.

METHODS

A literature review on the pharmacological properties and phytochemicals of B. carterii was performed. The information was retrieved from secondary databases such as PubMed, Chemical Abstracts Services (SciFinder), Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect.

RESULTS

The various Boswellia extracts and compounds demonstrated pharmacological properties, such as anti-inflammatory, antitumour, and antioxidant activities. B. carterii exhibited a positive effect on the treatment and prevention of many ageing diseases, such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative diseases.

CONCLUSION

Here, we highlight the pharmacological properties and phytochemicals of B. carterii and propose further evidence-based research on plant-derived remedies and compounds.

Essential oils as anticancer agents: Potential role in malignancies, drug delivery mechanisms, and immune system enhancement

Cancer retains a central place in fatality rates among the wide variety of diseases known world over, and the conventional synthetic medicaments, albeit used until now, produce numerous side effects. As a result, newer, better, and safer alternatives such as natural plant products, are gravely required. Essential oils (EOs) offer a plethora of bioactivities including antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, and anticancer properties, therefore, the use of EOs in combination with synthetic drugs or aromatherapy continues to be popular in many settings. In view of the paramount importance of EOs and their potential bioactivities, this review summarizes the current knowledge on the interconnection between EOs and cancer treatment. In particular, the current review presents an updated summary of the chemical composition of EOs, their current applications in cancer treatments based on clinical studies, and the mechanism of action against the cancer cell lines. Similarly, an overview of using EOs in aromatherapy and enhancing immunity during cancer treatment is provided. Further, this review focuses on the recent technological advancements such as the loading of EOs using protein microspheres, ligands, or nanoemulsions/nanoencapsulation, which offer multiple benefits in cancer treatment via site-specific and target-oriented delivery of drugs. The continuing clinical studies of EOs implicate that their pharmacological applications are a rewarding research area.

Essential Oils and Their Main Chemical Components: The Past 20 Years of Preclinical Studies in Melanoma

Simple Summary

In the last years, targeted therapy and immunotherapy modified the landscape for metastatic melanoma treatment. These therapeutic approaches led to an impressive improvement in patients overall survival. Unfortunately, the emergence of drug resistance and side effects occurring during therapy strongly limit the long-term efficacy of such treatments. Several preclinical studies demonstrate the efficacy of essential oils as antitumoral agents, and clinical trials support their use to reduce side effects emerging during therapy. In this review we have summarized studies describing the molecular mechanism through which essential oils induce in vitro and in vivo cell death in melanoma models. We also pointed to clinical trials investigating the use of essential oils in reducing the side effects experienced by cancer patients or those undergoing anticancer therapy. From this review emerged that further studies are necessary to validate the effectiveness of essential oils for the management of melanoma.

Abstract

The last two decades have seen the development of effective therapies, which have saved the lives of a large number of melanoma patients. However, therapeutic options are still limited for patients without BRAF mutations or in relapse from current treatments, and severe side effects often occur during therapy. Thus, additional insights to improve treatment efficacy with the aim to decrease the likelihood of chemoresistance, as well as reducing side effects of current therapies, are required. Natural products offer great opportunities for the discovery of antineoplastic drugs, and still represent a useful source of novel molecules. Among them, essential oils, representing the volatile fraction of aromatic plants, are always being actively investigated by several research groups and show promising biological activities for their use as complementary or alternative medicine for several diseases, including cancer. In this review, we focused on studies reporting the mechanism through which essential oils exert antitumor action in preclinical wild type or mutant BRAF melanoma models. We also discussed the latest use of essential oils in improving cancer patients’ quality of life. As evidenced by the many studies listed in this review, through their effect on apoptosis and tumor progression-associated properties, essential oils can therefore be considered as potential natural pharmaceutical resources for cancer management.

Biological Activity of Some Aromatic Plants and Their Metabolites, with an Emphasis on Health-Promoting Properties

The biological activities of four aromatic plants, namely frankincense, myrrh, ginger, and turmeric, were reviewed in the current study. The volatile fraction (essential oil) as well as the nonvolatile fraction of these four plants showed different promising biological activities that are displayed in detail. These activities can include protection from and/or alleviation of some ailment, which is supported with different proposed mechanisms of action. This review aimed to finally help researchers to get a handle on the importance of considering these selected aromatic plants, which have not been thoroughly reviewed before, as a potential adjuvant to classical synthetic drugs to enhance their efficiency. Moreover, the results elicited in this review encourage the consumption of these medicinal plants as an integrated part of the diet to boost the body's overall health based on scientific evidence.