Anticancer Potential of Natural Bark Products-A Review

Cell biology, plant-based extracts, structural chemistry, and laboratory in vitro or in vivo experiments are the principal aspects or interfaces that can contribute to discovering new possibilities in cancer therapy and to developing improved chemotherapeutics. Forestry residues can be used for their wealthy resource in polyphenols and other phytoconstituents known for anticancer properties. This review is designed to bring together information on the in vitro or in vivo anticancer potential of woody vascular plants especially the bark extracts (BE) and biosynthesized metallic nanoparticles (BMN) using bark extracts. Type of extracts, main phytoconstituents found in extracts responsible for the anticancer activity, and targeted cancerous cell lines were followed. The literature data were collected via Clarivate Analytics, Science Direct, PubMed, and Google Academic (2011-2021). The search terms were: bark extracts, metallic nanoparticles, silver nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles, anticancer, cytotoxic activity, antiproliferative effect, and antimetastatic potential in vitro and in vivo. All of the search terms listed above were used in different combinations. The literature data highlight the efficaciousness of the BE and BMN as anticancer agents in in vitro experiments and showed the mechanism of action and their advantage of nontoxicity on normal cells. In vitro testing has shown promising results of the BE and BMN effect on different cancer cell lines. In vivo testing is lacking and more data is necessary for drug development on animal models.

Automated summary

This review consolidates information on the in vitro or in vivo anticancer potential of woody vascular plants, specifically focusing on bark extracts and biosynthesized metallic nanoparticles using bark extracts. The research emphasizes the efficacy of bark extracts and metallic nanoparticles as anticancer agents in in vitro experiments against various cancer cell lines and their non-toxic advantage on normal cells. Further data from in vivo testing is needed for drug development on animal models.