A review on terpenes for treatment of gastric cancer: current status and nanotechnology-enabled future

Eighty-five percent of gastric cancer is caused by Helicobacter pylori infection. Delays in detection, limited efficacy, and significant side effects of the available treatments lead to a 5-year survival chance of only 32%. Therefore, better remedies are required. Numerous studies have been published on herbal medications offering an edge over conventional medicines. Secondary metabolites such as different polyphenolic compounds including terpenes are key players for therapeutic advantages. The antimicrobial, anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, etc. activities of biocompatible active ingredients make these compounds suitable for therapeutic use. Despite such advantages, the use of herbal medicine in gastric cancer treatment is limited. In this article, we describe the therapeutic potential and limitations of terpenes followed by the potential advantages offered by the combinatorial effects of terpenes with their nanoconjugates. These include increasing the anticancer and antimicrobial potency of drugs as well as resolving drawbacks including targeted delivery, stability, half-life, etc, thus making them suitable for gastric cancer treatment. The article concludes with a detailed discussion on the challenges encountered in deploying targeted secondary metabolites and their future developmental prospects to provide ideas and insights for future research. Depicts the basic green synthesis process for making natural terpene-based nano-formulations from the extract obtained from different plant parts, including flowers, fruits, roots, stems, and leaves, and their mode of action on tumor cells.