Ng, Chau Yee: Phytomedicine in Skin Cancer

Skin is the largest human organ that protects us from various environmental assaults and noxious agents. Accumulation of these stress events may eventually lead to the formation of skin cancers including both melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers. Although modern targeted therapies have ameliorated the management of cutaneous malignancies, continued searching for a safer, affordable, and effective strategy for chemoprevention and treatment is clearly needed for the improvement of skin cancer care. Phytochemicals are biologically active compounds derived from plants and herbal products. These agents appear to be beneficial in the battle against cancer as they exert anti-carcinogenic effects and are widely available, highly tolerated, and cost-effective. Cumulative evidence has indicated that the anti-carcinogenic properties of phytochemicals are likely due to their anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative and anti-angiogenic effects. In this review, we discuss the preventive potential, therapeutic effects, bioavailability, and structure activity relationship of these selected phytochemicals for the management of skin cancers.