Can Guggul Protect Against Skin Cancer?

Animal studies suggest that topical application of guggul may help protect against the development of skin cancer. On a mouse model of human skin tumors, topical treatment with of guggulsterones 30 minutes prior to exposure to a carcinogen resulted in significant inhibition of markers for skin tumor risk (e.g., skin edema, hyperplasia, oxidative damage, and production of inflammatory proteins). In other tests, animals pre-treated with guggulsterones showed much lower rates of skin cancer, reduced numbers of tumors in those with cancer, and a significant delay in tumor occurrence compared to the non-guggul treated group. ⁴²

Laboratory experiments at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center have demonstrated that guggul is toxic to skin cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner, suggesting it may also be a viable skin cancer treatment option. At the highest concentration, guggulsterones significantly decreased the viability of melanoma cancer cells, including those resistant to the anti-cancer drug dexamethasone. However, the guggul extracts proved to be more effective against certain melanoma cell lines than others. ³⁷