Anti-breast cancer activities of Zingiber officinale and Allium sativum ethanol extracts in 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene induced female Wister rats

Breast cancer belongs to a group of diseases classified under a generic name – cancer. It is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women worldwide with more than two million new cases in 2020. Breast cancer caused 685,000 deaths in 2020 and its mortality rate has increased over the last three decades due to the change in risk factor profiles, better breast cancer registration, and breast cancer detection. This study evaluated the antibreast cancer potentials of Zingiber officinale and Allium sativum ethanol extracts administered separately and combined in 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) induced female Wister rats. After extraction, acute toxicity and phytochemical analysis of Zingiber officinale and Allium sativum ethanol extracts were performed separately. Evaluation of the antibreast cancer potency was done by inducing cancer in female albino Wister rats; measuring tumor sizes and tumor volumes on the 91st day post-treatment and testing for breast cancer marker notably CA-15. Zingiber officinale and Allium sativum are rich in phytochemicals and have good safety profile. All the groups treated with Zingiber officinale and Allium sativum in different proportions exhibited antibreast cancer effects by decreasing the mean tumor size, mean tumor volume and mean CA-15 level significantly (p ˂ 0.05) when compared with the untreated group 2 and most remarkable in group 8. In conclusion, the herbs Zingiber officinale and Allium sativum ethanol extracts exhibited the best antibreast cancer activities when given in a combination of ZO:AS = 6:4 (318:212 mg/kg body weight) in a manner similar to that of the standard drug doxorubicin.