EXCLI J EXCLI Journal 1611-2156 Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors 2026-9530 10.17179/excli2026-9530 Doc991 Letter to the editor Therapeutic potential of berberine in cancer treatment: Current update Hazaa Safwan 1 Mishra Yachana * 2 Mishra Vijay 1 School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara (Punjab)-144411, India School of Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara (Punjab)-144411, India *To whom correspondence should be addressed: Yachana Mishra, School of Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara (Punjab)-144411, India, E-mail: yachanamishra@gmail.com 03 07 2026 2026 25 991 992 01 05 2026 04 06 2026 Copyright © 2026 Hazaa et al. 2026

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.

 This article is available from https://www.excli.de/vol25/excli2026-9530.pdf 

Berberine (BBR) is a benzyl tetra isoquinoline alkaloid bioactive agent (Supplementary Figure 1), specifically 2,3-methylenedioxy-9,10-dimethoxy protoberberine chloride (C20H18NO4), with a calculated molecular weight of 336.36 g/mol. This compound is well-documented as a phytochemical constituent extracted and isolated from diverse botanical sources, such as Coptis rhizomes, Pellodendron chenins, and Berberis vulgaris (Rauf et al., 2021[2]). BBR exhibits noteworthy pharmacological activity against various diseases, inclusive of highly antidiabetic effects (Liang et al., 2019[1]), anti-inflammatory properties, anti-tumor activity, regulation of blood lipid and glucose levels, as well as potential roles in treatment of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis (Zhang et al., 2021[3]). Moreover, numerous studies have investigated the effects of berberine on various cancers, elucidating its underlying mechanisms of action. These investigations have led to a substantial body of literature encompassing diverse anticancer effects. Therefore, this letter aims to comprehensively address the therapeutic potential of berberine in the treatment of different types of cancer (Supplementary Table 1).

 DeclarationFunding

None.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) - assisted technology

During the preparation of this letter, the authors used the Grammarly tool solely for language improvement, sentence structure enhancement, and grammar checking. The authors did not use AI tools for data analysis, interpretation, or the generation of scientific conclusions. After using this tool, the authors thoroughly reviewed, edited, and validated all content and take full responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and scientific validity of the work. The authors assume full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and scientific integrity of the final content of the published letter.

 Supplementary Material Supplementary information Liang Y Xu X Yin M Zhang Y Huang L Chen R Effects of berberine on blood glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic literature review and a meta-analysis Endocr J 2019 66 51–63 10.1507/endocrj.EJ18-0109 Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1507/endocrj.EJ18-0109 Rauf A Abu-Izneid T Khalil AA Imran M Shah ZA Bin Emran T Berberine as a potential anticancer agent: A comprehensive review Molecules 2021 26 7368 10.3390/molecules26237368 Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/molecules26237368 Zhang Y Ma J Zhang W Berberine for bone regeneration: Therapeutic potential and molecular mechanisms J Ethnopharmacol 2021 277 114249 10.1016/j.jep.2021.114249 Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2021.114249