The Effects of Natural Medicine as Possible Treatment for Glioblastoma

The goal of this literature review is to analyze different herbal medicine treatment options for Glioblastoma, a highly malignant cancer that starts as a growth of cells in the brain or spinal cord. The four different herbal medicine treatments that are studied in the paper are Curcumin, Flavonoids, Quercetin, and Terpenoids. Curcumin is used as a key inhibitor in various pathways in the cell proliferation and apoptosis of GBM cells. Flavonoids regulate tumor cell glucose metabolism by preventing cancer cells from uptaking glucose and cannot harness energy in the form of ATP. Quercetin is targeted at glioma cancer growth without negatively impacting normal CNS cells. Terpenoids are used to inhibit the transfer of P-glycoprotein, which can inhibit glioblastoma formation. All four herbal treatments have been shown to slow the progression of Glioblastoma by inhibiting the proliferation of Glioblastoma cells. This can be seen through the decrease in the tumor size of Glioblastoma patients.