Anticancer potential of carica papaya through modulation of cancer hallmarks

Despite the advancement in diagnostic and treatment approach, cancer still remains as the leading cause of deaths worldwide. Due to the heterogeneity of tumours, many targeted therapies and personalised medicine have become ineffective. Recently, researchers have been working on the discovery and development of “dirty drugs” which simultaneously target several key pathways and mechanisms to kill cancerous cells. The cancer hallmarks, which consist of 10 characteristics of cancer development, have become the guideline to investigate the potential of bioactive compounds to be a “dirty drug”. As a locally-grown crops, Carica papaya has been explored extensively for their pharmacological activities including anti-cancer properties. This review provides an insight to the development of papaya extracts or their bioactive compounds as a potential broad-spectrum therapy for cancer by referring the mechanisms of actions against cancer hallmarks.