Vol. 3, Issue 3, Part E (2017)

Abstract
Cancer is the major cause of death worldwide and existing treatments like radiotherapy and chemotherapy have various side effects and also, are not found to be 100% successful. This has led to the need of alternate treatment options with minimum side effects. Many common Indian spices and herbs in Indian ayurvedic medicine such as ginger, turmeric, cumin, basil, saffron are known to have anticancer potential. Saffron is the dried stigmas of Crocus sativus L. plant. It consists of about 150 components out of which the more powerful phytochemicals are Crocin, Crocetin and Safranal. These carotenoids appear to suppress cell growth in neoplastic cells and offer direct protection against chemotherapy-induced DNA damage. Saffron causes cell cycle arrest and DNA fragmentation by down-regulation of signalling genes and up-regulation of suppressors. The objective of this review is to show that this spice with ancient origins can be used in the treatment of many different types of cancers such as lung cancer, skin cancer, liver cancer, leukemia, colorectal cancer, cervical cancer, pancreatic cancer and breast cancer.