Dandelion Root / toxicity Cancer Research Results

DRE, Dandelion Root: Click to Expand ⟱
Features:
Dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale)
-Various phytochemicals, including flavonoids and phenolic compounds, which have antioxidant properties.
-Root extract can induce apoptosis
-Anti-inflammatory properties
-Immune System Support
Dosage: dried root 2-8g/d. Extract 250-500mg/d Tea 1-2g, 1-3x/d
aqueous Dandelion flower extracts (DFE), dandelion leaf extract (DLE), and dandelion root extract (DRE) may have different effects.
Common Names: Blowball, Puffball, Lion's tooth, Pu gong ying, Swine snout, Wild endive
Taraxacum officinale is rich in flavonoids (e.g., luteolin, quercetin glycosides), phenolic acids (chicoric, chlorogenic, and caffeic acids), terpenoids (taraxasterol, taraxerol), sesquiterpene lactones (taraxinic acid β-D-glucopyranosyl ester), and phytosterols (β-sitosterol, cycloartenol)

Dandelion Root — Dandelion root is the root material or root extract of Taraxacum officinale, a polychemical botanical preparation containing phenolic acids, flavonoids, sesquiterpene lactones, triterpenes, inulin-type carbohydrates, and other phytochemicals. It is formally classified as a botanical dietary supplement or herbal extract rather than a defined single-molecule oncology drug. Standard abbreviations include DRE for dandelion root extract and T. officinale for the plant species. Current oncology relevance is mainly preclinical, with repeated in-vitro and xenograft signals but no completed convincing human cancer efficacy trial.

Primary mechanisms (ranked):

  1. Selective programmed cell death induction in cancer cells, especially extrinsic caspase-8 signaling with downstream mitochondrial destabilization and caspase execution.
  2. Mitochondrial stress and pro-death autophagy, including loss of mitochondrial integrity and context-dependent mitochondrial ROS involvement.
  3. Multi-pathway growth suppression through cell-cycle disruption, PI3K-Akt/JAK-STAT/PPAR pathway modulation, and reduced survival signaling.
  4. Anti-invasive and anti-metastatic signaling, including reduced migration/invasion phenotypes and reduced MMP-9/IL-1β expression in some models.
  5. Chemosensitization or adjunctive enhancement in preclinical models, especially with taxol and mitoxantrone in prostate cancer models.
  6. Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects in non-cancer contexts; these are biologically relevant but not the central cancer-killing mechanism.

Bioavailability / PK relevance: Dandelion root extract is not a standardized single active agent, so formal human PK is not well established. Oral use is plausible as a botanical preparation, but systemic exposure to the same complex extract composition used in cell culture is unknown. Inulin-rich root material may also act partly through gastrointestinal or microbiome-facing exposure rather than direct plasma-equivalent exposure.

In-vitro vs systemic exposure relevance: Many anticancer experiments use crude extract concentrations in the mg/mL range and exposure windows of 24–96 hours. These concentrations should not be assumed to be systemically achievable after oral use. Colorectal and gastrointestinal tumor models may have relatively better luminal-exposure plausibility than distant solid-tumor systemic exposure, but clinical translation remains unproven.

Clinical evidence status: Preclinical. Evidence includes cell-line studies, some xenograft studies, and case-report-level human observations. A phase I cancer trial effort was reported as Health Canada-approved/recruiting, but there is no clear completed trial demonstrating cancer efficacy. It should not be treated as an established anticancer therapy.

Safety / deployment status: Dandelion is widely marketed as a food/herbal dietary supplement and is generally considered likely safe at food-level intake, but concentrated medicinal doses have less safety evidence. Important constraints include possible allergy in Asteraceae-sensitive individuals, theoretical interactions with antidiabetic, anticoagulant/antiplatelet, lithium, diuretic, and other medications, and uncertainty in pregnancy or breastfeeding. Hormone-sensitive cancer caution is reasonable because some preclinical evidence suggests estrogenic activity and possible stimulation of hormone-sensitive breast cancer models.

Dandelion Root Cancer Mechanism Table

Rank Pathway / Axis Cancer Cells Normal Cells TSF Primary Effect Notes / Interpretation
1 Extrinsic apoptosis and caspase activation ↑ caspase-8, ↑ Annexin V positivity, ↑ programmed cell death ↔ or lower toxicity in tested PBMCs, fibroblasts, colon mucosa, and mammary epithelial cells G Selective cancer-cell apoptosis Most central recurring anticancer signal across melanoma, leukemia, colorectal, pancreatic, prostate, and breast models; strongest evidence remains in vitro.
2 Mitochondrial destabilization ↓ mitochondrial integrity, ↓ mitochondrial membrane potential, ↑ downstream death signaling ↔ or relatively spared in several comparator normal-cell models G Amplifies intrinsic death execution Mitochondrial injury appears downstream of extrinsic death signaling in some leukemia models and more direct in melanoma/pancreatic models.
3 Pro-death autophagy ↑ autophagy with apoptosis linkage ↔ uncertain G Contributes to programmed cell death Reported in CMML and pancreatic cancer studies; autophagy direction should be interpreted as pro-death in those models, not automatically cytoprotective.
4 Cell cycle arrest ↑ S phase and G2/M accumulation, ↓ proliferation ↔ or less affected in tested normal mammary epithelial cells G Restricts proliferation Best supported in newer breast cancer fractionation/proteomics work; extract-specific and concentration-dependent.
5 PI3K-Akt and JAK-STAT survival signaling ↓ PI3K/Akt-related survival proteins, ↓ JAK/STAT-associated signaling markers (model-dependent) ↔ uncertain G Reduces survival signaling Mechanistic support is strongest in MDA-MB-231 fraction studies; requires caution because crude extracts and fractions differ substantially.
6 Mitochondrial ROS increase secondary ↑ ROS (context-dependent), ↑ oxidative mitochondrial stress ↔ uncertain; antioxidant effects may occur in normal inflammatory injury models R/G Stress-mediated death amplification ROS is not uniformly the primary DRE mechanism; in prostate work, DRE apoptosis was described as caspase-dependent while lemongrass was more ROS-dependent.
7 Migration invasion and metastasis markers ↓ migration, ↓ invasion, ↓ MMP-9, ↓ IL-1β, ↑ KAI1 (model-dependent) ↔ uncertain G Anti-invasive phenotype Observed in breast and pediatric/neuroblastoma models; translational strength is lower than the apoptosis signal.
8 Chemosensitization ↑ taxol-induced apoptosis, ↑ mitoxantrone-induced apoptosis, ↓ xenograft tumor burden with oral extract in prostate models ↔ or reduced toxicity signal in selected comparator normal-cell assays G Adjunctive enhancement Preclinical adjunct signal only; drug interaction risk means this should not be assumed safe with chemotherapy without oncology supervision.
9 Inflammation and NF-κB linked signaling ↓ inflammatory signaling markers (context-dependent) ↓ inflammatory injury markers in non-cancer models G Anti-inflammatory modulation Relevant to tumor microenvironment hypotheses but less directly established as a dominant cancer-cell killing mechanism for root extract.
10 NRF2 antioxidant axis ↔ insufficient direct cancer-specific evidence for root extract ↑ antioxidant defense may occur in injury/metabolic models (context-dependent) G Not a core cancer axis Do not tag NRF2 as a primary DRE anticancer mechanism unless a specific study directly supports it in the target cancer model.
11 Clinical Translation Constraint High in-vitro extract concentrations; variable extract chemistry; no validated human anticancer exposure target Food-level safety generally favorable but concentrated-dose interaction and allergy concerns remain G Limits clinical inference Evidence is promising but mostly preclinical; oral dosing cannot be translated directly from mg/mL cell-culture exposure.

TSF legend: P: 0–30 min; R: 30 min–3 hr; G: >3 hr
toxicity, toxicity: Click to Expand ⟱
Source:
Type:
Toxicity
Scientific Papers found: Click to Expand⟱
6354- DRE,    Taraxacum officinale L. in leukemia and lymphoma: current knowledge and prospects for horticulture
- Review, AML, NA
ROS↑, mt-Apoptosis↑, TumCCA↑, PI3K↓, Akt↓, STAT3↓, Dose↝, *hepatoP↑, Casp8↑, mtDam↑, TumCD↑, selectivity↑, DNAdam↑, BAX↑, P53↑, Bcl-2↓, CSCs↓, *toxicity↓, tumCV↓, Imm↑, FAK↓, mTOR↓, ChemoSen↑, eff↝, eff↑,
6357- DRE,    New Perspectives on the Effect of Dandelion, Its Food Products and Other Preparations on the Cardiovascular System and Its Diseases
- Review, Nor, NA
*cardioP↑, *Dose↝, *Dose↝, *toxicity∅, *toxicity↓, *BP↓, *Inflam↓, *Bacteria↓, *Imm↑, *lipid-P↓, *AST↓, *ALAT↓, *AntiAg↑, *ROS↓, *AntiThr↑,
6318- DRE,    Dandelion root extract affects colorectal cancer proliferation and survival through the activation of multiple death signalling pathways
- vitro+vivo, CRC, HCT116 - NA, Nor, NCM460
TumCD↑, Apoptosis↑, Casp8↑, selectivity↑, TumCMig↓, selectivity↑, Dose↝, toxicity↓, TumCG↓, MMP↓, mt-ROS↑, *ROS↓, BID↑, Bcl-2↓, PARP↓, NF-kB↑, *NF-kB↓, Casp1↑, *Casp1↓, COX2↑, OXPHOS↓, ETC↓,
6319- DRE,    Efficient induction of extrinsic cell death by dandelion root extract in human chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) cells
- in-vitro, AML, MV411 - in-vitro, AML, HL-60
Apoptosis↑, TumAuto↑, *toxicity↓, selectivity↑, Casp8↑, MMP↓, *Inflam↓, *antiOx↑, *AntiCan↑, DNAdam↑, cl‑Casp3↑, tumCV↓, ROS↑,
6322- DRE,  LGE,    Dandelion Root and Lemongrass Extracts Induce Apoptosis, Enhance Chemotherapeutic Efficacy, and Reduce Tumour Xenograft Growth In Vivo in Prostate Cancer
- vitro+vivo, Pca, DU145
AntiCan↑, ChemoSen↑, Dose↝, *ROS↓, Apoptosis↑, selectivity↑, *toxicity↓, *chemoP↑, eff↓, ROS↑,
6317- DRE,    The efficacy of dandelion root extract in inducing apoptosis in drug-resistant human melanoma cells
- in-vitro, Melanoma, A375
Apoptosis↑, selectivity↑, Casp8↑, mt-ROS↑, eff↑, *toxicity↓, Diff↑, TumCP↓, chemoPv↑, *ROS↓, *NO↓, *COX2↓, *RNS↓, TumCI↓, MMP2↓, MMP9↓, p‑Src↓, p‑FAK↓,
6348- DRE,    New prospects in oncotherapy: bioactive compounds from Taraxacum officinale
- Review, Var, NA
Dose↝, TumCP↓, toxicity↓, *AntiDiabetic↑, *antiOx↑, *hepatoP↑, *diuretic↑, *Inflam↓, *neuroP↑, *Imm↑, eff↑, Apoptosis↑, tumCV↓, selectivity↑, TumCMig↓, EMT↓, MMP2↓, MMP9↓, Wnt↓, β-catenin/ZEB1↓, PI3K↓, Akt↓, JNK↓, ERK↓,

Showing Research Papers: 1 to 7 of 7

* indicates research on normal cells as opposed to diseased cells
Total Research Paper Matches: 7

Pathway results for Effect on Cancer / Diseased Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress ⓘ

OXPHOS↓, 1,   ROS↑, 3,   mt-ROS↑, 2,  

Mitochondria & Bioenergetics ⓘ

ETC↓, 1,   MMP↓, 2,   mtDam↑, 1,  

Cell Death ⓘ

Akt↓, 2,   Apoptosis↑, 5,   mt-Apoptosis↑, 1,   BAX↑, 1,   Bcl-2↓, 2,   BID↑, 1,   Casp1↑, 1,   cl‑Casp3↑, 1,   Casp8↑, 4,   JNK↓, 1,   TumCD↑, 2,  

Transcription & Epigenetics ⓘ

tumCV↓, 3,  

Autophagy & Lysosomes ⓘ

TumAuto↑, 1,  

DNA Damage & Repair ⓘ

DNAdam↑, 2,   P53↑, 1,   PARP↓, 1,  

Cell Cycle & Senescence ⓘ

TumCCA↑, 1,  

Proliferation, Differentiation & Cell State ⓘ

CSCs↓, 1,   Diff↑, 1,   EMT↓, 1,   ERK↓, 1,   mTOR↓, 1,   PI3K↓, 2,   p‑Src↓, 1,   STAT3↓, 1,   TumCG↓, 1,   Wnt↓, 1,  

Migration ⓘ

FAK↓, 1,   p‑FAK↓, 1,   MMP2↓, 2,   MMP9↓, 2,   TumCI↓, 1,   TumCMig↓, 2,   TumCP↓, 2,   β-catenin/ZEB1↓, 1,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling ⓘ

COX2↑, 1,   Imm↑, 1,   NF-kB↑, 1,  

Drug Metabolism & Resistance ⓘ

ChemoSen↑, 2,   Dose↝, 4,   eff↓, 1,   eff↑, 3,   eff↝, 1,   selectivity↑, 7,  

Functional Outcomes ⓘ

AntiCan↑, 1,   chemoPv↑, 1,   toxicity↓, 2,  
Total Targets: 53

Pathway results for Effect on Normal Cells:


NA, unassigned ⓘ

diuretic↑, 1,  

Redox & Oxidative Stress ⓘ

antiOx↑, 2,   lipid-P↓, 1,   RNS↓, 1,   ROS↓, 4,  

Core Metabolism/Glycolysis ⓘ

ALAT↓, 1,  

Cell Death ⓘ

Casp1↓, 1,  

Transcription & Epigenetics ⓘ

AntiThr↑, 1,  

Migration ⓘ

AntiAg↑, 1,  

Angiogenesis & Vasculature ⓘ

NO↓, 1,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling ⓘ

COX2↓, 1,   Imm↑, 2,   Inflam↓, 3,   NF-kB↓, 1,  

Drug Metabolism & Resistance ⓘ

Dose↝, 2,  

Clinical Biomarkers ⓘ

ALAT↓, 1,   AST↓, 1,   BP↓, 1,  

Functional Outcomes ⓘ

AntiCan↑, 1,   AntiDiabetic↑, 1,   cardioP↑, 1,   chemoP↑, 1,   hepatoP↑, 2,   neuroP↑, 1,   toxicity↓, 5,   toxicity∅, 1,  

Infection & Microbiome ⓘ

Bacteria↓, 1,  
Total Targets: 27

Scientific Paper Hit Count for: toxicity, toxicity
7 Dandelion Root
1 Lemongrass Extract/Citral
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#:222  Target#:1025  State#:%  Dir#:%
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