Taraxacum officinale (Dandelion root extract) in oncology: Uncovering its potential as a natural anticancer agent
Abstract
Taraxacum officinale (dandelion), a common medicinal plant, possesses diuretic, anti-inflammatory and digestive properties. The potential use of Dandelion root extract (DRE) for its anticancer effect has been gained. This paper is a summary of existing evidence on its use in cancer management. In vivo results show the selective toxicity of DRE towards different cancer cells while maintaining the normal cells. This is demonstrated in the preclinical studies. Its anticancer activity can be explained by bioactive compounds like sesquiterpene lactones and phenolic acids that are involved in the regulation of such critical signaling pathways as MAPK, PI3K/Akt, and NF-KB. These processes lead to suppression of tumor cell growth, activation of apoptosis, regulation of autophagy and inhibition of angiogenesis. Although there is promising preclinical evidence, there is limited clinical evidence. Hence, clinical trials ought to be conducted in a well-defined manner to prove its safety as well as therapeutic effectiveness. Comprehensively, DRE is one of the promising natural agents of anticancer therapy in the future.
Keywords:
Taraxacum officinale, Cancer therapy, Apoptosis, Dandelion root extract, Signalling pathwaysDOI
https://doi.org/10.25004/References
Newman DJ, Cragg GM. Natural products as sources of new drugs over the nearly four decades from 1981 to 2019. J Nat Prod. 2020;83(3):770-803. Available from: doi:10.1021/acs.jnatprod.9b01285
Ovadje P, Ammar S, Guerrero JA, Arnason JT, Pandey S. Dandelion root extract affects colorectal cancer proliferation and survival through the activation of multiple death signalling pathways. Oncotarget. 2016;7(45):73080-100. Available from: doi:10.18632/oncotarget.11485
World Health Organization. WHO guidelines on good agricultural and collection practices (GACP) for medicinal plants. Geneva: WHO; 2003. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9241546271
Ovadje P, Chatterjee S, Griffin C, Tran C, Hamm C, Pandey S. Selective induction of apoptosis through activation of caspase-8 in human leukemia cells (Jurkat) by dandelion root extract. J Ethnopharmacol. 2011;133(1):86-91. Available from: doi:10.1016/j.jep.2010.09.005
Hassan M, Watari H, AbuAlmaaty A, Ohba Y, Sakuragi N. Apoptosis and molecular targeting therapy in cancer. Biomed Res Int. 2014;2014:150845. Available from: doi:10.1155/2014/150845
Zhang XK, Wang DN, Chen J, Liu ZJ, Wei LJ, Hua Q. Metabolic engineering of β-carotene biosynthesis in Yarrowia lipolytica. Biotechnol Lett. 2020;42(6):945-56. Available from: doi:10.1007/s10529-020-02844-x
Dzubak P, Hajduch M, Vydra D, Hustova A, Kvasnica M, Biedermann D, et al. Pharmacological activities of natural triterpenoids and their therapeutic implications. Nat Prod Rep. 2006;23(3):394-411. Available from: doi:10.1039/B515312N
Huber M, Epping J, Schulze Gronover C, Fricke J, Aziz Z, Brillatz T, et al. A latex metabolite benefits plant fitness under root herbivore attack. PLoS Biol. 2016;14(1):e1002332. Available from: doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002332
Schütz K, Carle R, Schieber A. Taraxacum—A review on its phytochemical and pharmacological profile. J Ethnopharmacol. 2006;107(3):313-23. Available from: doi:10.1016/j.jep.2006.07.021
Zeng P, Li J, Chen Y, Zhang L. The structures and biological functions of polysaccharides from traditional Chinese herbs. Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci. 2019;163:423-44. Available from: doi:10.1016/bs.pmbts.2019.03.003
Williams CA, Goldstone F, Greenham J. Flavonoids, cinnamic acids and coumarins from Taraxacum officinale. Phytochemistry. 1996;42(1):121-7. Available from: doi:10.1016/0031-9422(95)00865-9
Jedrejek D, Pawelec S. Comprehensive qualitative and quantitative analysis of flavonoids in dandelion flowers and food products. J Agric Food Chem. 2024;72(31):17368-76. Available from: doi:10.1021/acs.jafc.4c03108
Sadeghi M, Miroliaei M, Ghanadian M. Inhibitory effect of flavonoid glycosides on digestive enzymes. Int J Biol Macromol. 2022;217:714-30. Available from: doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.07.086
Moon DO, Lee KJ, Choi YH, Kim GY. β-Sitosterol-induced apoptosis mediated by ERK activation and Akt downregulation. Int Immunopharmacol. 2007;7(8):1044-53. Available from: doi:10.1016/j.intimp.2007.03.010
Akashi T, Furuno T, Takahashi T, Ayabe SI. Biosynthesis of triterpenoids in Taraxacum officinale. Phytochemistry. 1994;36(2):303-8. Available from: doi:10.1016/S0031-9422(00)97065-1
Ghaima KK, Hashim NM, Ali SA. Antibacterial and antioxidant activities of nettle and dandelion. J Appl Pharm Sci. 2013;3(5):96-9. Available from: doi:10.7324/JAPS.2013.3518
Oliveira AI, Pinho C, Vieira FQ, Silva R, Cruz A. Taraxacum spp. anticancer activity: a review. J Herb Med. 2022;36:100612. Available from: doi:10.1016/j.hermed.2022.100612
Chatterjee SJ, Ovadje P, Mousa M, Hamm C, Pandey S. Dandelion root extract induces apoptosis in melanoma cells. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2011;2011:129045. Available from: doi:10.1155/2011/129045
Kontogiorgis C, Detsi A, Hadjipavlou-Litina D. Coumarin-based drugs: a patent review. Expert Opin Ther Pat. 2012;22(4):437-54. Available from: doi:10.1517/13543776.2012.678835
Yan Q, Xing Q, Liu Z, Zou Y, Liu X, Xia H. Phytochemical and pharmacological profile of dandelion. Biomed Pharmacother. 2024;179:117334. Available from: doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2024.117334
Pike LR, Singleton DC, Buffa F, Abramczyk O, Phadwal K, Li JL, et al. ULK1 up-regulation contributes to cancer cell survival. Biochem J. 2013;449(2):389-400. Available from: doi:10.1042/BJ20120972
Gazoulis I, Antonopoulos N, Kanatas P, Karavas N, Bertoncelj I, Travlos I. Invasive alien plant species awareness. Diversity. 2022;14(5):387. Available from: doi:10.3390/d14050387
Li J, Song Y, Cai Y. Focus topics on microplastics in soil: analytical methods, occurrence, transport, and ecological risks. Environ Pollut. 2020;257:113570. Available from: doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113570
Laila U, Kaur J, Sharma K, Singh J, Rasane P, Kaur S, et al. Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale): a promising source of nutritional and therapeutic compounds. Recent Pat Food Nutr Agric. 2025;16(1):41-56. Available from: doi:10.2174/012772574X293072240217185616
Sigstedt SC, Hooten CJ, Callewaert MC, Jenkins AR, Romero AE, Pullin MJ, et al. Dandelion extract on cancer cell growth. Int J Oncol. 2008;32(5):1085-90. Available from: doi:10.3892/ijo.32.5.1085
Murtaza I, Saleem M, Adhami VM, Hafeez BB, Mukhtar H. Lupeol suppresses resistance in pancreatic cancer cells. Cancer Res. 2009;69(3):1156-65. Available from: doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-08-2917
Mou W, Zhang P, Cui Y, Yang D, Zhao G, Xu H, et al. Dandelion extract inhibits breast cancer proliferation. Biology (Basel). 2025;14(8):910. Available from: doi:10.3390/biology14080910
Ovesná Z, Vachálková A, Horváthová K. Taraxasterol and beta sitosterol effects. Neoplasma. 2004;51(6):407-14. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15640948/
Wang A, Xiong W, Cheng C, Zou L, Niu B, Liu Y. Tracking evidences of dandelion for cancer treatment. Nutrients. 2025;17(23):3769. Available from: doi:10.3390/nu17233769
Mingarro DM, Plaza A, Galán A, Vicente JA, Martínez MP, Acero N. Taraxacum species antioxidant activity. Food Funct. 2015;6(8):2787-93. Available from: doi:10.1039/C5FO00588J
Tiwari D, Kewlani P, Singh L, Rawat S, Bhatt ID, Sundriyal RC, et al. Taraxacum officinale anticancer review. RPS Pharmacol Rep. 2024;3(2):rqae009. Available from: doi:10.1093/rpsppr/rqae009
Olas B. New perspectives on the effect of dandelion, its food products and other preparations on the cardiovascular system and its diseases. Nutrients. 2022;14(7):1350. Available from: doi:10.3390/nu14071350
Ovadje P, Hamm C, Pandey S. Efficient induction of extrinsic cell death by dandelion root extract in human chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) cells. PLoS One. 2012;7(2):e30604. Available from: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030604
Zhu H, Zhao H, Zhang L, Xu J, Zhu C, Zhao H, et al. Dandelion extract suppresses gastric cancer. Biomed Pharmacother. 2017;93:1010-7. Available from: doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2017.07.007
Rezaie H, Alipanah-Moghadam R, Jeddi F, Clark CC, Aghamohammadi V, Nemati A. Combined dandelion extract and all-trans retinoic acid induces cytotoxicity in human breast cancer cells. Sci Rep. 2023;13(1):15074. Available from: doi:10.1038/s41598-023-42177-z
Bai Y, Zhang S, Gao X, Guo L, Chen N, Han Y, Zhang P, Gao W. Highly reactive phloroglucinol-crosslinked glucose-derived hard carbon for sodium-ion batteries. Available at SSRN 5797004. Available from: doi:10.3892/etm.2024.12544
Wang J, Wang H, Yang X, Wang K, Zhang Y. Polysaccharides in liver diseases. Front Pharmacol. 2025;16:1535717. Available from: doi:10.3389/fphar.2025.1535717
Bethge N, Lothe RA, Honne H, Andresen K, Trøen G, Eknæs M, et al. Colorectal cancer DNA methylation marker panel validated with high performance in Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Epigenetics. 2014;9(3):428-36. Available from: doi:10.4161/epi.27554
Sweeney B, Vora M, Ulbricht C, Basch E. Evidence-based systematic review of dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) by natural standard research collaboration. J Herb Pharmacother. 2005;5(1):79-93. Available from: doi:10.1080/J157v05n01_09
Nguyen C, Mehaidli A, Baskaran K, Grewal S, Pupulin A, Ruvinov I, et al. Dandelion root and lemongrass extracts induce apoptosis, enhance chemotherapeutic efficacy, and reduce tumour xenograft growth in vivo in prostate cancer. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2019;2019:2951428. Available from: doi:10.1155/2019/2951428
Wang S, Hao HF, Jiao YN, Fu JL, Guo ZW, Guo Y, et al. Dandelion extract inhibits triple-negative breast cancer cell proliferation by interfering with glycerophospholipids and unsaturated fatty acids metabolism. Front Pharmacol. 2022;13:942996. Available from: doi:10.3389/fphar.2022.942996
Hu C, Kitts DD. Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) flower extract suppresses both reactive oxygen species and nitric oxide and prevents lipid oxidation in-vitro. Phytomedicine. 2005;12(8):588-97. Available from: doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2003.12.012
Rahmat LT, Damon LE. The use of natural health products especially papaya leaf extract and dandelion root extract in previously untreated chronic myelomonocytic leukemia. Case Rep Hematol. 2018;2018:7267920. Available from: doi:10.1155/2018/7267920
Ren F, Zhang Y, Qin Y, Shang J, Wang Y, Wei P, Guo J, Jia H, Zhao T. Taraxasterol prompted the anti-tumor effect in mice burden hepatocellular carcinoma by regulating T lymphocytes. Cell Death Discov. 2022;8(1):264. Available from: doi:10.1038/s41420-022-01059-5
Stewart-Wade SM, Neumann S, Collins LL, Boland GJ. Biology of Taraxacum officinale. Can J Plant Sci. 2002;82(4):825-53. Available from: doi:10.4141/P01-010
Li Y, Deng Y, Zhang X, Fu H, Han X, Guo W, et al. Dandelion seed extract affects tumor progression and enhances the sensitivity of cisplatin in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Front Pharmacol. 2022;13:897465. Available from: doi:10.3389/fphar.2022.897465
Yang K, Wang Y. Dandelion root extracts and taraxasterol inhibit LPS-induced colorectal cancer cell viability by blocking TLR4/NF-κB-driven ACE2 and TMPRSS2 pathways. Exp Ther Med. 2024;27(6). Available from: doi:10.3892/etm.2024.12544
Published
Abstract Display: 0 How to Cite
Issue
Section
Copyright (c) 2026 Lathamani Lakshmanan, Brindha Senthilkumar, Dhanasekar Jayakumar, Tamizharasi Sengodan, Sudhamani Thangavel
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
