Table 3.
Combination of berberine with natural compound/anticancer drugs potentially increases the effectiveness of cancer drugs.
| Types of Cancer | Berberine Cancer Drugs/Natural Compound | Outcome of the Study | Refs. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Esophagus | Berberine and Galangin | Galangin in combination with berberine showed significant synergistic anti-cancer effects, demonstrating that of both drugs could be hopeful treatment for esophageal carcinoma patients | [225] |
| Gastric | Berberine and d-limonene | Berberine and d-limonene combination showed a synergistic effect and enhanced the expression of caspase-3, and decreased the expression of Bcl-2. | [226] |
| Breast | Berberine and curcumin | Curcumin and berberine in combination showed a synergistic inhibitory effect on the growth of cancer cell and caused induction of apoptosis | [42] |
| Liver/breast/lung/bone/leukemia | Berberine and curcumin | Synergetic anticancer activity of berberine and curcumin encouraged cell death with greater efficacy as compared to pure curcumin and pure berberine | [227] |
| Liver | S-allyl-cysteine (SAC) and berberine | S-allyl-cysteine and berberine efficiently decrease Rb-phosphorylation, resulting in insignificant nuclear E2F presence directed to the end of cell proliferation. | [228] |
| Lung/cervix/liver | Doxorubicin and berberine | Berberine sensitizes cells to the anticancer effects of doxorubicin | [229] |
| Breast | Doxorubicin and berberine | Berberine overcomes doxorubicin resistance in a dose-orchestrated fashion; berberine also enhances doxorubicin sensitivity in drug-resistant breast cancer cells | [191] |
| Skin | Doxorubicin and berberine | Combination of doxorubicin and berberine caused a significant decrease in tumor volume and tumor weight | [231] |
| Gastric | Cisplatin and berberine | Berberine treatment decreases cisplatin resistance of gastric cancer cells through regulating miR-203/Bcl-w apoptotic axis | [232] |
| Ovarian | Cisplatin and berberine | Combination of both drugs significantly enhanced ovarian cancer cell death via inducing apoptosis and necroptosis | [181] |
| Ovarian | Cisplatin and berberine | Berberine modulated the sensitivity of cisplatin via the PTEN/miR-93//AKT signaling pathway | [182] |
| Cervix | Cisplatin and berberine | Combined treatment of cisplatin and berberine induced loss of mitochondrial membrane potential | [235] |
| Bladder | Berberine and epirubicin | Berberine increased the antiproliferative effects of epirubicin via increasing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis | [236] |