Written By: Debjani Arora | Updated : September 26, 2018 4:14 PM IST
Mulethi extracts can help in prostate cancer treatment along with chemotherapy. © Shutterstock
There are various herbs and rhizomes in Ayurveda that has anti-cancer properties and help in delaying the growth of cancer cells if not kill them. In fact, mulethi or liquorice is one such herb which is known to possess anti-cancer properties. A study published in the year 2000 in cancer network journal stated that extracts obtained from liquorice root helped to treat acute leukaemia, breast and prostate cancer cell lines by lowering the amount of bcl-2, a drug-resistant protein.
In fact, other studies have also shown that when had an adjunct to chemotherapy medication it arrests the growth of prostate cancer cells. A substance extracted from liquorice root, Licochalcone-A, has been shown to have antitumor activity. This extract of liquorice is thought to slow the growth of tumour cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as docetaxel, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumour cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving liquorice root extract together with docetaxel omay be an effective treatment for prostate cancer.
An excess amount of bcl-2 protein is usually linked with breast and prostate cancer. Licochalcone-A extract works by lowering the effects of bcl-2 protein. Bcl-2 is a protein that seems to cause resistance to anticancer agents. By decreasing the level of bcl-2, Licochalcone-A may increase tumour sensitivity to anticancer agents, believes scientists who carried on the study of the effects of mulethi in prostate cancer. In fact, liquorice extracts can be work on both hormone-dependent and non-hormone dependent cancers.
In fact, studies have shown that giving liquorice root extract together with docetaxel works in treating patients with metastatic prostate cancer that did not respond to hormone therapy. It was seen that patients who had received liquorice extract tablets had a better response to treatment of prostate cancer.
