Abstract

Chemotherapeutic drugs and radiotherapy are fundamental treatments to combat cancer, but, often, the doses in these treatments are restricted by their non-selective toxicities, which affect healthy tissues surrounding tumors. On the other hand, drug resistance is recognized as the main cause of chemotherapeutic treatment failure. Rosmarinic acid (RA) is a polyphenol of the phenylpropanoid family that is widely distributed in plants and vegetables, including medicinal aromatic herbs, consumption of which has demonstrated beneficial activities as antioxidants and anti-inflammatories and reduced the risks of cancers. Recently, several studies have shown that RA is able to reverse cancer resistance to first-line chemotherapeutics, as well as play a protective role against toxicity induced by chemotherapy and radiotherapy, mainly due to its scavenger capacity. This review compiles information from 56 articles from Google Scholar, PubMed, and ClinicalTrials.gov aimed at addressing the role of RA as a complementary therapy in cancer treatment.