AUTHOR=Cirmi Santa , Maugeri Alessandro , Ferlazzo Nadia , Gangemi Sebastiano , Calapai Gioacchino , Schumacher Udo , Navarra Michele 

TITLE=Anticancer Potential of Citrus Juices and Their Extracts: A Systematic Review of Both Preclinical and Clinical Studies

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2017.00420

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2017.00420

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> During the last decades, a huge body of evidence has been accumulated suggesting that <italic>Citrus</italic> fruits and their juices might have a role in preventing many diseases including cancer.</p><p><bold>Objective:</bold> To summarize the numerous evidences on the potential of <italic>Citrus</italic> juices and their extracts as anticancer agents.</p><p><bold>Data sources:</bold> A systematic review of articles written in English using MEDLINE (1946-present), EMBASE (1974-present) and Web of Sciences (1970-present) was performed independently by two reviewers. Search terms included <italic>Citrus, Citrus aurantifolia, Citrus sinensis, Citrus paradisi, Citrus</italic> fruits, <italic>Citrus</italic> fruits extract, cancer, neoplasm, neoplasia, tumor, metastasis, carcinogenesis, proliferation. The last search was performed on March 16th, 2017.</p><p><bold>Study selection:</bold> Study selection and systematic review were carried out in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. Prior to the beginning of the review, Authors defined a checklist for inclusion criteria, thus including articles which meet the following: (i) published on peer-reviewed scientific journals; (ii) <italic>Citrus</italic> juice used alone; (iii) extracts derived from <italic>Citrus</italic> juice; (iii) for preclinical studies, an exposure time to <italic>Citrus</italic> juices and their extracts more than 24 h. Reviews, meta-analyses, conference abstracts and book chapters were excluded.</p><p><bold>Data extraction:</bold> Three reviewers independently performed the extraction of articles.</p><p><bold>Data synthesis:</bold> 22 papers met our inclusion criteria and were eligible for inclusion in the final review. According to the kind of study, the selected ones were further divided in preclinical (<italic>n</italic> = 20) and observational (<italic>n</italic> = 2) studies.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> The studies discussed in this review strongly corroborate the role of <italic>Citrus</italic> juices and their derivatives as potential resource against cancer.</p>