Harnessing apigenin for breast cancer treatment: Current insights

Breast cancer (BC) continues to be the world's leading cause of mortality for women. Despite advancements in cancer treatments such as radiation, hormone therapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy, these methods often have significant adverse effects and damage healthy cells. Keeping in view these limitations, there is an urgent need to produce safe, accessible, and efficient breast anticancer treatments. Apigenin (API), a flavonoid derived from edible plants, has garnered considerable attention in recent years. In silico, in vitro, and in vivo investigations, API has shown encouraging chemopreventive properties. In particular, it has been demonstrated that API inhibits the growth of cancer cells, trigger apoptosis, and alter key signaling pathways that involved to the onset of cancer. With regard to BC and cancer stem cells (CSCs), the objective of this review is to present a comprehensive outline of the recent study on API, clarifying its mechanisms of action, pharmacokinetics, therapeutic efficacy, bioavailability, cytotoxicity and potential as a supplement to conventional cancer therapies. The information provided will be helpful to researchers and medical professionals who are interested in learning more about alternative cancer treatments.