O óleo de copaíba (Copaifera spp.) e sua potencial ação antitumoral: uma revisão de literatura

Abstract

The objective of this work was to review the literature on the antitumor activity of Copaiba oil (Copaifera spp.). Copaíba, a tree of the Copaifera genus, family Leguminosae and subfamily Detarioideae, has its oleoresin widely used in traditional medicine. The copaiba oleoresin possesses among its anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, healing and bactericidal properties, the tumoricidal action. One of the diseases that affect the population with high impact on their quality of life is cancer, with the number of cases increasing year after year. Despite the evolution in the treatment, there is still much difficulty in the remission of the tumors. Therefore, oncology researchers are looking for more efficient antineoplastic drugs with low side effects in medicinal plants and copaiba oleoresin, according to the few studies performed, is shown to be an important and potential anticancer agent.