Review of the anticancer potentials of levan

Polysaccharides are important polymeric molecules widely recognized for their diverse pharmacological activities and long-standing relevance in traditional medicine. Levan, a fructose-based natural polysaccharide derived from microbial and plant sources is among the notable polysaccharides and it holds noteworthy potentials owing to its high yield and rate of production, chemical diversity and diverse biological effects. Levan exhibits an extensive range of physicochemical and biological properties, including, self-assembly, biodegradability, high biocompatibility, controlled release capability. Pharmacological studies have also demonstrated its antioxidative, immunomodulatory, and proapoptotic activities, in addition to its tumour growth suppression ability in both in vitro and in vivo cancer models. However, despite its various promising properties, levan remains understudied compared to other well-known polysaccharides such as β-glucans or fucoidans that are more widely studied. This review therefore seeks to bridge this gap by comprehensively discussing the anticancer mechanisms of levan, its recent research findings across various cancer cell types, its potential as an adjunct or alternative cancer therapy and its emergent applications of Levan-based nanoparticulate Systems. This serves as a link between traditional medicine and ethnopharmacological evidence that present levan as a potential agent with anticancer benefits.