The overview on anti-cancer effects of milk lactoferrin

Abstract

Cancer has emerged as a global health issue and become a one of major cause of deaths in 21^st century. The existing therapeutic approaches to prevent cancer are indeed beneficial but pose different risks to human health and now, tumor heterogeneity, non-specificity and untargeted delivery of anti-cancer drugs arise the problem of chemoresistance. Lactoferrin especially derived from bovine milk has caught attraction to be utilized in cancer treatment because of its biological activities, immuno-compatibility and low cost effectiveness. This chapter outlined the importance of milk lactoferrin in prevention of cancer by covering different aspects of its biology and mechanism of action. Lactoferrin from bovine milk has been evaluated in different types of cancer and known to exert its anti-cancerous potential through regulation of cell cycle, apoptosis induction, inhibition of metastasis and immunomodulation. One of the major advantage of milk lactoferrin is that it crosses the blood-brain barrier which make it suitable for treatment of brain tumors especially glioblastoma. Moreover, lactoferrin has also act as a potential carrier for targeted delivery of anti-cancerous drugs to eliminate multi-drug resistance in cancer thus signifying its pharmacological importance.