Frontiers in Bioscience-Scholar (FBS) is published by IMR Press from Volume 13 Issue 1 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.
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Lactoferrin (Lf) is a multifunctional protein and an essential element of innate immunity. Cancer is a major killer in today's world accounting for around 13% of all deaths according to the World Health Organisation (W.H.O.). The five most common forms of cancer include lung, colorectal, stomach, liver and breast cancer. Lactoferrin is a natural forming iron-binding glycoprotein with antibacterial, antioxidant and anti-carcinogenic effects. It is produced in exocrine glands and is secreted in many external fluids as a first line of defence. Lactoferrin also has the capacity to induce apoptosis and inhibit proliferation in cancer cells as well as restore white and red blood cell levels after chemotherapy. This review focuses on the therapeutic effect bovine sourced lactoferrin has on various forms of cancer in various models. It also focuses on the benefits of 3D in vitro cell culture. 3D cell culture has vast advantages over 2D models including demonstration of realistic therapeutic results and heightened resistance that 2D models fail to display.