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Tumor Discovery

REVIEW ARTICLE
Honokiol in cancer: Roles in enhancing

combination therapy efficacy and preventing
post-transplant malignancies

3
1,2
4
Laxminarayan Rawat , Raghu Solanki , Rahul Kumar , Soumitro Pal *, and
1,2
Akash Sabarwal *
1,2
1 Division of Nephrology, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of
America
2 Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
3 Department of Biological Sciences and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar,
Palaj, Gujarat, India
4 Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, All India Institute of Medical Sciences,
New Delhi, India

*Corresponding authors:
Akash Sabarwal Abstract
(akash.sabarwal@childrens.
harvard.edu) Therapeutic resistance remains a significant challenge in cancer treatment, often
Soumitro Pal resulting in relapse and poor outcomes. Conventional chemotherapies, such
(soumitro.pal@childrens.harvard.
edu) as cisplatin and paclitaxel, are frequently undermined by the development of
chemoresistance and systemic toxicity. Targeted therapies, such as receptor tyrosine
Citation: Rawat L, Solanki R, kinase (RTKs) inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), offer better specificity
Kumar R, Pal S, Sabarwal A.
Honokiol in cancer: Roles but face resistance over time. Combination therapies are being explored to improve
in enhancing combination efficacy and mitigate resistance. Honokiol, a biphenolic natural compound derived
therapy efficacy and preventing from Magnolia species, has emerged as a potential adjunct in combination therapies
post-transplant malignancies.
Tumor Discov. 2025;4(2):42-54. due to its anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory properties. It
doi: 10.36922/td.8152 enhances the efficacy of chemotherapies, such as cisplatin and paclitaxel, RTK
Received: December 24, 2024 inhibitors, such as cabozantinib and erlotinib, and mAbs, such as cetuximab.
Notably, honokiol combined with mAbs has shown promise in pre-clinical studies
1st revised: March 20, 2025 by reactivating the immune system and reducing tumor growth in resistant models.
2nd revised: April 5, 2025 In addition, honokiol aids in post-transplant cancer prevention by modulating
Accepted: April 16, 2025 immune responses, reducing tumor progression, and lowering the required dose of
immunosuppressants, such as cyclosporine A and rapamycin. Pre-clinical studies in
Published online: May 5, 2025 renal cell carcinoma (RCC), head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), and
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s). non-small cell lung cancer emphasize its potential to overcome resistance. Despite
This is an Open-Access article promising evidence, further clinical studies are needed to validate honokiol as a viable
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution adjunct in combination therapies. While several reviews have focused on the effects
License, permitting distribution, of honokiol alone, there is a lack of comprehensive studies examining its potential in
and reproduction in any medium, combination with other therapies. This review aims to fill this gap by offering critical
provided the original work is
properly cited. insights into the role of honokiol as a candidate for combination therapy.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with Keywords: Honokiol; Cancer; Combination therapy; Chemotherapy; Receptor tyrosine
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional kinase inhibitors; Post-transplantation cancer
affiliations.

Volume 4 Issue 2 (2025) 42 doi: 10.36922/td.8152