Antitumor Effect of Ginsenosides: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Tumor is a serious disease that threatens human health and has a high mortality. Chemotherapy is the most commonly used treatment, but it has a lot of side effects due to its toxicity. It has been found that ginsenosides exert an effective antitumor role. Ginsenosides are a class of triterpenoid saponins primarily found in the plant genus Panax. Many monomer components are studied, the most often investigated are Rg3, and Rh2, etc. Reports have shown that ginsenosides can inhibit tumor cells by suppressing proliferation and metastasis, and promoting apoptosis. In addition, ginsenosides can enhance sensitivity to conventional chemotherapeutic drugs. In this review, the recent articles about anti-tumor of ginsenosides were reviewed to promote the further development of anti-tumor therapy.