Nurhidayati Nurhidayati, Yuyun Yueniwati Prabowowati, Nurdiana Nurdiana, Happy Kurnia Permatasari, Rohadi Muhammad Rosyidi, Agustina Tri Endharti
Context: The goal of cancer therapy is to eliminate tumor cells with the fewest side effects and injury to healthy tissue. This renders the use of natural ingredients, generally low in toxicity, a wise choice. Among the many marine organisms that have nutritional and therapeutic qualities, one that is quite popular is the sea cucumber. Aims: To identify the antitumor effects of sea cucumber extracts. Methods: This review followed the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis guidelines of the Reporting System for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA). The keywords used were “((sea cucumber) AND (treatment)) AND (cancer)) AND (animal)”. Studies included in this review were original articles published between January 2019 and April 2024. Results: Based on the search results and predetermined keywords, 623 studies were generated. After filtering out duplicate studies, 33 articles were obtained, then proceeded to the full-text screening stage regarding the research design, resulting in 10 articles that could be further analyzed in this systematic review. Sea cucumber-derived compounds have been proven in vitro and in vivo in murine models to have the ability to suppress the growth of various types of human tumor cells through various mechanisms, including cytotoxic activity, induction of apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, reduction of tumor growth, suppression of tumor cell invasion and metastasis, as well as inhibition of angiogenesis. Conclusions: Various bioactive compounds found in sea cucumbers have proven to have suppressive effects on the growth of various human tumors. © 2025 Journal of Pharmacy & Pharmacognosy Research,
Doctoral Program in Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia; Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Mataram, Indonesia; Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia; Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia; Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia; Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Mataram, Indonesia; Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia
