Antiangiogenic activity of Annona muricata (soursop) leaf extract

Abstract

Background: The use of food supplements as a treatment for cancer in the Philippines has been competing with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, which are the standard treatment. For the past years, Annona muricata (soursop) supplements have dominated the market after a paper from the Philippine Department of Science and Technology revealed that it has anti-angiogenic activity on chick chorioallantoic angiogenic (CAM) assays. However, to date, there are no human cancer studies to support this claim. This study aimed to compare the level of anti-angiogenic activity of A. muricata leaf extracts with bevacizumab, a pure anti-angiogenic drug and paclitaxel, a chemotherapy agent with an anti-angiogenic property on CAM assays.