Chahal S, Patial V. Therapeutic potential of kakkatin derivatives against hepatocellular carcinoma. World J Clin Oncol 2025; 16(3): 101686 [DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v16.i3.101686]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Vikram Patial, Principal Scientist, PhD, Dietetics and Nutrition Technology Division, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, No. 6 Post Box, Palampur 176061, Himachal Pradesh, India. vikrampatial@ihbt.res.in
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Oncol. Mar 24, 2025; 16(3): 101686 Published online Mar 24, 2025. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v16.i3.101686
Therapeutic potential of kakkatin derivatives against hepatocellular carcinoma
Sahiba Chahal, Vikram Patial
Sahiba Chahal, Vikram Patial, Dietetics and Nutrition Technology Division, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur 176061, Himachal Pradesh, India
Sahiba Chahal, Vikram Patial, Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research Headquarters, Ghaziabad 201002, Uttar Pradesh, India
Author contributions: Chahal S collected the literature and wrote the manuscript; Patial V contributed to designing, manuscript writing, and editing; All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by the Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, No. MLP0204 (CSIR-IHBT no. 5712).
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Vikram Patial, Principal Scientist, PhD, Dietetics and Nutrition Technology Division, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, No. 6 Post Box, Palampur 176061, Himachal Pradesh, India. vikrampatial@ihbt.res.in
Received: September 23, 2024 Revised: November 12, 2024 Accepted: December 2, 2024 Published online: March 24, 2025 Processing time: 120 Days and 0.3 Hours
Abstract
In this article, we commented on the work done by Jiang et al, where they synthesized a kakkatin derivative, 6-(hept-6-yn-1-yloxy)-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-7-methoxy-4H-chromen-4-one (HK), and investigated its antitumor activities and mechanism in gastric cancer MGC803 and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) SMMC-7721 cells. HK was evaluated for its antitumor activity as compared to kakkatin and cisplatin. This article focused on various risk factors of HCC, the mechanism of HCC progression and molecular targets of the kakkatin derivative, and limitations of available treatment options. HCC is a predominant form of primary liver cancer characterized by the accumulation of multiple gene modifications, overexpression of protooncogenes, altered immune microenvironment, and infiltration by immune cells. Puerariae flos (PF) has been used in traditional medicine in China, Korea, and Japan for lung clearing, spleen awakening, and relieving alcohol hangovers. PF exerts antitumor activity by inhibiting cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and migration. PF induces apoptosis in alcoholic HCC via the estrogen-receptor 1-extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 signaling pathway. Kakkatin isolated from PF is known as a hepatoprotective bioflavonoid. The kakkatin derivative, HK, exhibited anticancer activity against HCC cell lines by inhibiting cell proliferation and upregulating nuclear factor kappa B subunit 1 and phosphodiesterase 3B. However, further preclinical and clinical studies are required to establish its therapeutic potential against HCC.
Core Tip: The heterogeneity of tumor cells and their ability to migrate, invade, and metastasize distant tissue makes diagnosing and developing a cancer treatment difficult. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths, and current therapies are either only effective at the early stage or have side effects. Puerariae flos-based treatment of HCC has shown a better potential to treat HCC than the known chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin. Kakkatin and its derivative 6-(hept-6-yn-1-yloxy)-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-7-methoxy-4H-chromen-4-one, derived from puerariae flos, were used as treatment against HCC and compared with cisplatin.
