Carvone / ROS Cancer Research Results

CRV, Carvone: Click to Expand ⟱
Features:

Carvone — Carvone is a chiral oxygenated monocyclic monoterpene ketone found mainly as enantiomeric forms in spearmint, caraway, dill, and related essential oils. It is best classified as a small-molecule natural product / volatile terpenoid flavor-fragrance compound, commonly abbreviated CRV. The biologically relevant forms are often reported as l-carvone, d-carvone, R-carvone, or S-carvone, but naming conventions are inconsistent across papers, so note the exact enantiomer stated by each source.

Primary mechanisms (ranked):

  1. Induction of cancer-cell apoptosis through p53, Bad, caspase-3 activation, PARP cleavage, and DNA-damage-associated stress signaling.
  2. Suppression of migration, adhesion, invasion, and metastatic behavior, especially through FAK-related signaling in breast cancer models.
  3. Context-dependent oxidative stress modulation, including ROS increase and DNA damage at cytotoxic in-vitro concentrations.
  4. Inhibition of proliferative survival pathways, including JAK/STAT3 in gastric cancer and p38 MAPK-related signaling in myeloma models.
  5. Cell-cycle disruption, reported as S-phase, G0/G1, or G2/M arrest depending on enantiomer, cancer model, and concentration.
  6. Possible chemopreventive activity in animal skin-carcinogenesis models, but not established as a clinically validated anticancer agent.

Bioavailability / PK relevance: Carvone is lipophilic and volatile, with oral, dermal, and inhalational exposure relevance depending on formulation. Human PK/metabolism data exist for ingestion-correlated and topical/percutaneous exposure contexts, but anticancer studies generally use concentrations that are not directly matched to validated systemic anticancer exposure. Essential-oil delivery introduces variability from enantiomer ratio, co-terpenes, oxidation products, and formulation.

In-vitro vs systemic exposure relevance: Common anticancer in-vitro effects occur at high micromolar to millimolar or microgram-per-millilitre ranges, and breast-cancer IC50 values around the millimolar range have been reported. These levels are likely above ordinary dietary flavor exposure and may exceed practical systemic exposure from food-like intake. Interpretation should therefore be concentration-constrained and formulation-dependent.

Clinical evidence status: Preclinical for cancer. Evidence includes cancer cell-line studies, animal chemoprevention/tumor models, and mechanistic studies, but no credible cancer RCTs of carvone as a therapeutic agent were identified. Human studies involving carvone-containing preparations exist for non-cancer indications or mixtures, but they should not be treated as direct anticancer evidence for isolated carvone.

Safety / regulatory status: Carvone is listed as a FEMA GRAS flavoring substance with CFR flavor-use reference, but this applies to intended flavor-use exposure, not therapeutic dosing. Major constraints include skin sensitization potential, enantiomer/formulation variability, volatile exposure, and uncertain safety at high supplemental or pharmacologic doses. Fragrance safety assessment data indicate no genotoxic concern under reviewed conditions, but l-carvone is considered a skin sensitizer.

Carvone Mechanistic Profile

Rank Pathway / Axis Cancer Cells Normal Cells TSF Primary Effect Notes / Interpretation
1 Apoptosis execution ↑ p53, ↑ Bad, ↑ cleaved caspase-3, ↑ cleaved PARP Lower sensitivity reported in some normal-cell comparisons G Pro-apoptotic cytotoxicity Most central anticancer mechanism; strongest evidence is in vitro and concentration-dependent.
2 Migration adhesion invasion ↓ migration, ↓ adhesion, ↓ invasion, ↓ FAK activation Not well-defined G Anti-metastatic phenotype Mechanistically important for breast cancer models; therapeutic leverage is plausible but not clinically validated.
3 ROS and DNA damage stress ROS, ↑ DNA damage markers, ↑ apoptotic stress Context-dependent antioxidant or cytoprotective effects reported outside cancer R/G Stress-mediated apoptosis ROS appears pro-apoptotic in several cancer contexts; antioxidant effects in non-cancer models make this axis context-dependent.
4 JAK STAT3 survival signaling ↓ JAK/STAT3 signaling in gastric cancer models Not well-defined G Reduced survival signaling Promising but model-specific; should not be generalized across all tumor types without direct evidence.
5 p38 MAPK signaling ↓ p38 MAPK-related signaling in myeloma models Not well-defined G Growth and invasion suppression Reported in myeloma; secondary/contextual relative to apoptosis and motility effects.
6 Cell cycle control ↑ arrest at S, G0/G1, or G2/M depending on model Not well-defined G Reduced proliferation Direction of arrest is inconsistent across cancer systems and enantiomer reports; keep model-specific.
7 Mitochondrial apoptosis ↓ mitochondrial membrane potential reported in some models, ↑ caspase-linked apoptosis Context-dependent R/G Intrinsic apoptosis support Relevant when mitochondrial depolarization or ROS-mediated apoptosis is directly measured.
8 Angiogenesis tumor microenvironment ↓ angiogenesis stimulus in Ehrlich tumor context Not well-defined G Reduced tumor support phenotype Evidence is less mature than direct cancer-cell apoptosis and migration data.
9 NRF2 redox adaptation ↔ or uncertain Possible cytoprotective relevance in oxidative stress models G Unresolved redox adaptation
10 Clinical Translation Constraint High in-vitro concentrations may not map to achievable systemic exposure Skin sensitization and exposure-route constraints G Limits translational confidence Bioavailability, enantiomer identity, essential-oil composition, and flavor-use versus therapeutic-dose safety are the main constraints.

P: 0–30 min R: 30 min–3 hr G: >3 hr



ROS, Reactive Oxygen Species: Click to Expand ⟱
Source: HalifaxProj (inhibit)
Type:
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are highly reactive molecules that contain oxygen and can lead to oxidative stress in cells. They play a dual role in cancer biology, acting as both promoters and suppressors of cancer.
ROS can cause oxidative damage to DNA, leading to mutations that may contribute to cancer initiation and progression. So normally you want to inhibit ROS to prevent cell mutations.
However excessive ROS can induce apoptosis (programmed cell death) in cancer cells, potentially limiting tumor growth. Chemotherapy typically raises ROS.
-mitochondria is the main source of reactive oxygen species (ROS) (and the ETC is heavily related)

"Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are two electron reduction products of oxygen, including superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radical, lipid peroxides, protein peroxides and peroxides formed in nucleic acids 1. They are maintained in a dynamic balance by a series of reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions in biological systems and act as signaling molecules to drive cellular regulatory pathways."
"During different stages of cancer formation, abnormal ROS levels play paradoxical roles in cell growth and death 8. A physiological concentration of ROS that maintained in equilibrium is necessary for normal cell survival. Ectopic ROS accumulation promotes cell proliferation and consequently induces malignant transformation of normal cells by initiating pathological conversion of physiological signaling networks. Excessive ROS levels lead to cell death by damaging cellular components, including proteins, lipid bilayers, and chromosomes. Therefore, both scavenging abnormally elevated ROS to prevent early neoplasia and facilitating ROS production to specifically kill cancer cells are promising anticancer therapeutic strategies, in spite of their contradictoriness and complexity."
"ROS are the collection of derivatives of molecular oxygen that occur in biology, which can be categorized into two types, free radicals and non-radical species. The non-radical species are hydrogen peroxide (H 2O 2 ), organic hydroperoxides (ROOH), singlet molecular oxygen ( 1 O 2 ), electronically excited carbonyl, ozone (O3 ), hypochlorous acid (HOCl, and hypobromous acid HOBr). Free radical species are super-oxide anion radical (O 2•−), hydroxyl radical (•OH), peroxyl radical (ROO•) and alkoxyl radical (RO•) [130]. Any imbalance of ROS can lead to adverse effects. H2 O 2 and O 2 •− are the main redox signalling agents. The cellular concentration of H2 O 2 is about 10−8 M, which is almost a thousand times more than that of O2 •−".
"Radicals are molecules with an odd number of electrons in the outer shell [393,394]. A pair of radicals can be formed by breaking a chemical bond or electron transfer between two molecules."

Recent investigations have documented that polyphenols with good antioxidant activity may exhibit pro-oxidant activity in the presence of copper ions, which can induce apoptosis in various cancer cell lines but not in normal cells. "We have shown that such cell growth inhibition by polyphenols in cancer cells is reversed by copper-specific sequestering agent neocuproine to a significant extent whereas iron and zinc chelators are relatively ineffective, thus confirming the role of endogenous copper in the cytotoxic action of polyphenols against cancer cells. Therefore, this mechanism of mobilization of endogenous copper." > Ions could be one of the important mechanisms for the cytotoxic action of plant polyphenols against cancer cells and is possibly a common mechanism for all plant polyphenols. In fact, similar results obtained with four different polyphenolic compounds in this study, namely apigenin, luteolin, EGCG, and resveratrol, strengthen this idea.
Interestingly, the normal breast epithelial MCF10A cells have earlier been shown to possess no detectable copper as opposed to breast cancer cells [24], which may explain their resistance to polyphenols apigenin- and luteolin-induced growth inhibition as observed here (Fig. 1). We have earlier proposed [25] that this preferential cytotoxicity of plant polyphenols toward cancer cells is explained by the observation made several years earlier, which showed that copper levels in cancer cells are significantly elevated in various malignancies. Thus, because of higher intracellular copper levels in cancer cells, it may be predicted that the cytotoxic concentrations of polyphenols required would be lower in these cells as compared to normal cells."

Majority of ROS are produced as a by-product of oxidative phosphorylation, high levels of ROS are detected in almost all cancers.
-It is well established that during ER stress, cytosolic calcium released from the ER is taken up by the mitochondrion to stimulate ROS overgeneration and the release of cytochrome c, both of which lead to apoptosis.

Note: Products that may raise ROS can be found using this database, by:
Filtering on the target of ROS, and selecting the Effect Direction of ↑

Targets to raise ROS (to kill cancer cells):
• NADPH oxidases (NOX): NOX enzymes are involved in the production of ROS.
    -Targeting NOX enzymes can increase ROS levels and induce cancer cell death.
    -eNOX2 inhibition leads to a high NADH/NAD⁺ ratio which can lead to increased ROS
• Mitochondrial complex I: Inhibiting can increase ROS production
• P53: Activating p53 can increase ROS levels(by inducing the expression of pro-oxidant genes)
Nrf2 inhibition: regulates the expression of antioxidant genes. Inhibiting Nrf2 can increase ROS levels
• Glutathione (GSH): an antioxidant. Depleting GSH can increase ROS levels
• Catalase: Catalase converts H2O2 into H2O+O. Inhibiting catalase can increase ROS levels
• SOD1: converts superoxide into hydrogen peroxide. Inhibiting SOD1 can increase ROS levels
• PI3K/AKT pathway: regulates cell survival and metabolism. Inhibiting can increase ROS levels
HIF-1α inhibition: regulates genes involved in metabolism and angiogenesis. Inhibiting HIF-1α can increase ROS
• Glycolysis: Inhibiting glycolysis can increase ROS levels • Fatty acid oxidation: Cancer cells often rely on fatty acid oxidation for energy production.
-Inhibiting fatty acid oxidation can increase ROS levels
• ER stress: Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress can increase ROS levels
• Autophagy: process by which cells recycle damaged organelles and proteins.
-Inhibiting autophagy can increase ROS levels and induce cancer cell death.
• KEAP1/Nrf2 pathway: regulates the expression of antioxidant genes.
    -Inhibiting KEAP1 or activating Nrf2 can increase ROS levels and induce cancer cell death.
• DJ-1: regulates the expression of antioxidant genes. Inhibiting DJ-1 can increase ROS levels
• PARK2: regulates the expression of antioxidant genes. Inhibiting PARK2 can increase ROS levels
SIRT1 inhibition:regulates the expression of antioxidant genes. Inhibiting SIRT1 can increase ROS levels
AMPK activation: regulates energy metabolism and can increase ROS levels when activated.
mTOR inhibition: regulates cell growth and metabolism. Inhibiting mTOR can increase ROS levels
HSP90 inhibition: regulates protein folding and can increase ROS levels when inhibited.
• Proteasome: degrades damaged proteins. Inhibiting the proteasome can increase ROS levels
Lipid peroxidation: a process by which lipids are oxidized, leading to the production of ROS.
    -Increasing lipid peroxidation can increase ROS levels
• Ferroptosis: form of cell death that is regulated by iron and lipid peroxidation.
    -Increasing ferroptosis can increase ROS levels
• Mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP): regulates mitochondrial permeability.
    -Opening the mPTP can increase ROS levels
• BCL-2 family proteins: regulate apoptosis and can increase ROS levels when inhibited.
• Caspase-independent cell death: a form of cell death that is regulated by ROS.
    -Increasing caspase-independent cell death can increase ROS levels
• DNA damage response: regulates the repair of DNA damage. Increasing DNA damage can increase ROS
• Epigenetic regulation: process by which gene expression is regulated.
    -Increasing epigenetic regulation can increase ROS levels

-PKM2, but not PKM1, can be inhibited by direct oxidation of cysteine 358 as an adaptive response to increased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS)

ProOxidant Strategy:(inhibit the Mevalonate Pathway (likely will also inhibit GPx)
-HydroxyCitrate (HCA) found as supplement online and typically used in a dose of about 1.5g/day or more
-Atorvastatin typically 40-80mg/day, -Dipyridamole typically 200mg 2x/day Combined effect research
-Lycopene typically 100mg/day range (note debatable as it mainly lowers NRF2)

Dual Role of Reactive Oxygen Species and their Application in Cancer Therapy
ROS-Inducing Interventions in Cancer — Canonical + Mechanistic Reference
-generated from AI and Cancer database
ROS rating:  +++ strong | ++ moderate | + weak | ± mixed | 0 none
NRF2:        ↓ suppressed | ↑ activated | ± mixed | 0 none
Conditions:  [D] dose  [Fe] metal  [M] metabolic  [O₂] oxygen
             [L] light [F] formulation [T] tumor-type [C] combination

Item ROS NRF2 Condition Mechanism Class Remarks
ROS">Piperlongumine +++ [D][T] ROS-dominant
ROS">Shikonin +++↓/±[D][T]ROS-dominant
ROS">Vitamin K3 (menadione) +++[D]ROS-dominant
ROS">Copper (ionic / nano) +++[Fe][F]ROS-dominant
ROS">Sodium Selenite +++[D]ROS-dominant
ROS">Juglone +++[D]ROS-dominant
ROS">Auranofin +++[D]ROS-dominant
ROS">Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) +++0[L][O₂]ROS-dominant
ROS">Radiotherapy / Radiation +++0[O₂]ROS-dominant
ROS">Doxorubicin +++[D]ROS-dominant
ROS">Cisplatin ++[D][T]ROS-dominant
ROS">Salinomycin ++[D][T]ROS-dominant
ROS">Artemisinin / DHA ++[Fe][T]ROS-dominant
ROS">Sulfasalazine ++[C][T]ROS-dominant
ROS">FMD / fasting ++[M][C][O₂]ROS-dominant
ROS">Vitamin C (pharmacologic) ++[Fe][D]ROS-dominant
ROS">Silver nanoparticles ++±[F][D]ROS-dominant
ROS">Gambogic acid ++[D][T]ROS-dominant
ROS">Parthenolide ++[D][T]ROS-dominant
ROS">Plumbagin ++[D]ROS-dominant
ROS">Allicin ++[D]ROS-dominant
ROS">Ashwagandha (Withaferin A) ++[D][T]ROS-dominant
ROS">Berberine ++[D][M]ROS-dominant
ROS">PEITC ++[D][C]ROS-dominant
ROS">Methionine restriction +[M][C][T]ROS-secondary
ROS">DCA +±[M][T]ROS-secondary
ROS">Capsaicin +±[D][T]ROS-secondary
ROS">Galloflavin +0[D]ROS-secondary
ROS">Piperine +±[D][F]ROS-secondary
ROS">Propyl gallate +[D]ROS-secondary
ROS">Scoulerine +?[D][T]ROS-secondary
ROS">Thymoquinone ±±[D][T]Dual redox
ROS">Emodin ±±[D][T]Dual redox
ROS">Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) ±[D][M]NRF2-dominant
ROS">Curcumin ±↑/↓[D][F]NRF2-dominant
ROS">EGCG ±↑/↓[D][O₂]NRF2-dominant
ROS">Quercetin ±↑/↓[D][Fe]NRF2-dominant
ROS">Resveratrol ±[D][M]NRF2-dominant
ROS">Sulforaphane ±↑↑[D]NRF2-dominant
ROS">Lycopene 0Antioxidant
ROS">Rosmarinic acid 0Antioxidant
ROS">Citrate 00Neutral


Scientific Papers found: Click to Expand⟱
6521- CRV,    L-carvone induces p53, caspase 3 mediated apoptosis and inhibits the migration of breast cancer cell lines
- in-vitro, BC, MCF-7 - in-vitro, BC, MDA-MB-231 - in-vitro, Nor, MCF10
TumCP↓, TumCMig↓, Apoptosis↑, TumCCA↑, DNAdam↑, ROS↑, GSH↑, P53↑, BAD↑, cl‑Casp3↑, cl‑PARP↑, Apoptosis↑,
6524- CRV,    d-Carvone inhibits the JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway and induced the apoptotic cell death in the human gastric cancer AGS cells
- in-vitro, GC, AGS
ROS↑, MMP↝, JAK↓, STAT3↓, TumCD↑,
6525- CRV,    D-carvone induced ROS mediated apoptotic cell death in human leukemic cell lines (Molt-4)
- in-vitro, AML, NA
tumCV↓, ROS↑, antiOx↓, MMP↓, Apoptosis↑, Casp8↑, Casp9↑, Casp3↑, *neuroP↑, AntiCan↑, *AntiArt↑, TBARS↑, SOD↓, GSH↓, Catalase↓,
6528- CRV,    D-carvone inhibits growth, migration, cell cycle at G0/G1 phase and induces apoptosis in A431 cells by disrupting mitochondrial membrane potential
- in-vitro, Melanoma, A431
Apoptosis↑, ROS↑, MMP↓, TumCCA↑, TumCP↓,

Showing Research Papers: 1 to 4 of 4

* indicates research on normal cells as opposed to diseased cells
Total Research Paper Matches: 4

Pathway results for Effect on Cancer / Diseased Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress

antiOx↓, 1,   Catalase↓, 1,   GSH↓, 1,   GSH↑, 1,   ROS↑, 4,   SOD↓, 1,   TBARS↑, 1,  

Mitochondria & Bioenergetics

MMP↓, 2,   MMP↝, 1,  

Cell Death

Apoptosis↑, 4,   BAD↑, 1,   Casp3↑, 1,   cl‑Casp3↑, 1,   Casp8↑, 1,   Casp9↑, 1,   TumCD↑, 1,  

Transcription & Epigenetics

tumCV↓, 1,  

DNA Damage & Repair

DNAdam↑, 1,   P53↑, 1,   cl‑PARP↑, 1,  

Cell Cycle & Senescence

TumCCA↑, 2,  

Proliferation, Differentiation & Cell State

STAT3↓, 1,  

Migration

TumCMig↓, 1,   TumCP↓, 2,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling

JAK↓, 1,  

Functional Outcomes

AntiCan↑, 1,  
Total Targets: 26

Pathway results for Effect on Normal Cells:


NA, unassigned

AntiArt↑, 1,  

Functional Outcomes

neuroP↑, 1,  
Total Targets: 2

Scientific Paper Hit Count for: ROS, Reactive Oxygen Species
4 Carvone
Query results interpretion may depend on "conditions" listed in the research papers.
Such Conditions may include : 
  -low or high Dose
  -format for product, such as nano of lipid formations
  -different cell line effects
  -synergies with other products 
  -if effect was for normal or cancerous cells
Filter Conditions: Pro/AntiFlg:%  IllCat:%  CanType:%  Cells:%  prod#:411  Target#:275  State#:%  Dir#:2
wNotes=0 sortOrder:rid,rpid

 

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