Misinformation has made essential oils the epitome of pseudoscience. Homeopathic influencers and science deniers have praised the liquid as a miracle cure for all forms of ailments, even though it’s called “essential” because it is the fragrant essence of a plant. The public has been misled into believing that “natural” automatically means “medicinal,” and this confusion has often pushed essential oils into the realm of exaggerated health claims. Social media trends, wellness bloggers, and multilevel marketing companies have contributed to the misconception that essential oils can cure diseases ranging from headaches to cancer.

Despite the misinformation and hoopla involving essential oils, natural remedies are gaining the interest of medical professionals, as there is growing scientific research that shows some promise for natural, organic chemicals. Instead of endorsing essential oils as cure-alls, researchers are identifying specific components within these oils that may have therapeutic value under controlled conditions. The essential oil of anise, fennel, and licorice plants contain one of these natural chemicals that show scientifically proven benefits by triggering death in cancer cells.

These plants contain a chemical known as anethole, which smells very similar to licorice and has been used as a flavoring in various foods, candies, and herbal remedies for decades. It is commonly found in products like toothpaste, teas, lozenges, and baked goods, where its strong aromatic quality is both pleasant and recognizable. In a recent study, when given to oral gum cancer cells, anethole caused the cells to stop growing and multiplying, which resulted in cell death. With these promising results, anethole could be used in combination with current cancer therapies to improve their efficacy and produce a better prognosis for the patients. Especially for cancers that are common, costly, have significant side effects from treatment, and have high remission rates, like oral cancers, these potential benefits make the chemical worth deeper investigation.

Oral cancers are the most common tumors found in the head and neck and are ranked as the sixth most common cancers worldwide. They frequently affect areas such as the gums, lips, tongue, and inner cheeks, and often go undetected until they progress to later stages. The treatment of oral cancers is one of the highest financial burdens for patients, as it can require extensive use of radiation and chemotherapy due to cancer resistance and recurrence. Radiation can damage healthy tissue, and chemotherapy often comes with harsh systemic effects, so patients experience both financial and physical strain.

What makes it worse is that treating oral cancers impacts a person’s ability to eat by causing dry mouth, trouble swallowing, and difficulty chewing, significantly lowering their quality of life. These complications from oral cancer demand more effective treatments, and natural chemicals like anethole have been gaining prominence in meeting this challenge. Scientists are eager to explore whether incorporating such compounds could reduce toxicity, shorten recovery time, or slow recurrence.

Like so many other medicinal plant chemicals, anethole has antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer properties. It isn't enough to show off that it can do all these things, though. Scientists and doctors need to understand everything about a chemical's interactions within the body and its cells to determine if it is safe to use. Or, to determine what amounts are safe and with what other treatments the chemical can be used in tandem to offset side effects. To better understand the anti-cancer properties of anethole, a team analyzed gene activation and suppression in oral gum cancer cells after administering anethole.

The gears of the cell cycle that kept the cancer cells alive became stuck, making them unable to grow and replicate, which increased the levels of toxic substances within the cell and led to its death. Several genes that control the cell cycle were affected when the cells interacted with anethole, even with micro amounts. The activated cell cycle genes kept the cancer cells from multiplying, forcing them to stay in a step where they could only build proteins and waste energy. The cell cycle genes that regulated the transition from protein production to replication were turned off, preventing the cell from splitting to reduce the waste and burden of the overgrown cancer cell.

But this stop in the cell cycle wasn't the only cause of cell death. Anethole also had an effect on genes that regulate cell death, known as apoptosis. Several apoptotic genes were activated, directly contributing to and initiating the death of cancer cells treated by anethole. Upon further analysis of gene interactions, anethole influenced the complex network of apoptotic genes: those that initiate it, those that prevent it, and those that help balance apoptosis and survival. This implies that anethole could affect genes involved in other processes like metabolism, homeostasis, and DNA repair, which are critical in preventing cancer and disease.

Anethole, a component of essential oil in licorice plants, has shown that it can treat cancer by affecting genes that regulate cell life and death, but the misinformed should not abuse this fact. With influence over the complex network of genes that regulate a cell’s life, it is possible that it can cause chaos in non-cancerous cells when administered to a patient. Currently, anethole shows promise as an additional treatment that can be used alongside another to reduce side effects and allow the patient to recover in between treatments. With more time and research, the full extent of anethole’s effects on a cell would be better understood, and doctors could administer the appropriate dose or tailored cocktail of treatment to a patient that is effective and without detrimental side effects.