Pooled Evidence Supports Esculetin As a Promising Natural Coumarin for Cancer Therapy

Rising global cancer rates highlight the urgent need for better treatments, as conventional therapies often lack effectiveness, cause severe side effects, and fail to target cancer cells selectively. Plant-based coumarins like esculetin stand out as natural alternatives, showing stronger anticancer effects with fewer toxicities than synthetic drugs. By disrupting key signaling pathways that control cancer cell growth, survival, and programmed cell death, esculetin holds broad promise against multiple cancer types. This systematic meta-analysis synthesized quantitative data from 24 independent studies to evaluate the effects of esculetin on human cancer cell viability. A mixed-effects meta-regression model was fitted, with dose-group categories incorporated as moderators. The analysis revealed substantial heterogeneity (I² = 70.17