A laboratory study examining how Frankincense and Sandalwood essential oils influenced cultured bladder cancer cells through different biological pathways.

By Eric R. Cêch | Curated and Edited by Anita Felice

Archive Restoration Note

This article was originally published as "Research: Frankincense & Sandalwood Essential Oils Kill Cancer Cells in Different, Complementary Ways."

The original article summarized a laboratory study comparing Frankincense (Boswellia carterii) and Sandalwood (Santalum album) essential oils in cultured human bladder cancer cells. During restoration, the original text was preserved wherever possible. Limited editorial updates were made to improve clarity, provide additional context regarding laboratory research methods, and distinguish laboratory observations from clinical outcomes.

Eric's discussion of the study, species identification, research findings, and published abstract have been preserved to maintain the educational intent of the original work.

As reported in the Journal of Chinese Medicine, Frankincense (Boswellia carteri) and Sandalwood (Santalum album) essential oils were tested for their ability to cause the death of cancer cells and “immortalized” cells, and to examine the mechanisms by which each oil causes cancer cell death. 

One point deserves clarification before reviewing the study.

The researchers were interested in more than whether the cells survived exposure to the oils. They also examined gene expression, cellular signaling, and biological pathways in order to better understand how the cells responded.

That distinction becomes important later in the paper, where Frankincense and Sandalwood appear to influence the cells through different biological mechanisms.

The sap of Boswellia trees (left) when dried becomes Frankincense
Sandalwood heartwood (right) is distilled into the highly-prized essential oil

The research article states: “This study aims to investigate the anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic activities of frankincense and sandalwood essential oils in cultured human bladder cancer cells. It was found that “each essential oil had a unique molecular action on the bladder cancer cells”.* (Two lines bladder cells were used in these experiments).

Frankincense essential oil showed a “greater potency” in causing apoptosis of the cancer cells.* Apoptosis is natural "programmed" cell death—the body's normal process for removing damaged, dysfunctional, or unnecessary cells. A loss of this regulatory process is a common characteristic of many cancer cells.
 Sandalwood essential oil affected both the cancer cells and the immortalized cells equally via a different pathway.* (Immortalized cells are the in-vitro equivalent of cancerous cells, used for research purposes).  Immortalized cells are laboratory cell lines that have been altered to divide indefinitely.  They behave like cancer cells without being derived from an actual tumor, which makes them useful for controlled comparison.

How Frankincense & Sandalwood Worked Together to Kill Cancer Cells

It is extremely interesting to see the essential oils caused cell death in complementary ways. While both caused changes in gene expression of these cells, they each affected significantly different groups of of genes. While frankincense and sandalwood essential oils have shown to kill cancer cells in laboratory research alone (Frankincense research & Sandalwood research), this study appears to demonstrate the greater potential of these two oils working together.*

Frankincense and sandalwood essential oils-activated gene networks in bladder cancer J82 cells. Gene networks were composited by HV genes that were regulated (A) specifically by frankincense essential oil (red), (B) specifically by sandalwood essential oil (green), or (C) commonly by both frankincense and sandalwood essential oils (gray). Identified genes that belong to definite biological processes were highlighted.

What follows is the article abstract (summary). The complete article is available here.

Title: Differential effects of selective frankincense (Ru Xiang) essential oil versus non-selective sandalwood (Tan Xiang) essential oil on cultured bladder cancer cells: a microarray and bioinformatics study.

Published in: Chinese Medicine. 2014 Jul 2;9:18. doi: 10.1186/1749-8546-9-18. eCollection 2014.

Authors: Dozmorov MG1, Yang Q2, Wu W3, Wren J1, Suhail MM4, Woolley CL5, Young DG5, Fung KM6, Lin HK7.

Background: Frankincense (Boswellia carterii, known as Ru Xiang in Chinese) and sandalwood (Santalum album, known as Tan Xiang in Chinese) are cancer preventive and therapeutic agents in Chinese medicine. Their biologically active ingredients are usually extracted from frankincense by hydrodistillation and sandalwood by distillation. This study aims to investigate the anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic activities of frankincense and sandalwood essential oils in cultured human bladder cancer cells.

Methods: The effects of frankincense (1,400-600 dilutions) (v/v) and sandalwood (16,000-7,000 dilutions) (v/v) essential oils on cell viability were studied in established human bladder cancer J82 cells and immortalized normal human bladder urothelial UROtsa cells using a colorimetric XTT cell viability assay. Genes that responded to essential oil treatments in human bladder cancer J82 cells were identified using the Illumina Expression BeadChip platform and analyzed for enriched functions and pathways. The chemical compositions of the essential oils were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Results: Human bladder cancer J82 cells were more sensitive to the pro-apoptotic effects of frankincense essential oil than the immortalized normal bladder UROtsa cells. In contrast, sandalwood essential oil exhibited a similar potency in suppressing the viability of both J82 and UROtsa cells. Although frankincense and sandalwood essential oils activated common pathways such as inflammatory interleukins (IL-6 signaling), each essential oil had a unique molecular action on the bladder cancer cells. Heat shock proteins and histone core proteins were activated by frankincense essential oil, whereas negative regulation of protein kinase activity and G protein-coupled receptors were activated by sandalwood essential oil treatment.

Conclusion: The effects of frankincense and sandalwood essential oils on J82 cells and UROtsa cells involved different mechanisms leading to cancer cell death. While frankincense essential oil elicited selective cancer cell death via NRF-2-mediated oxidative stress, sandalwood essential oil induced non-selective cell death via DNA damage and cell cycle arrest. Reference: https://www.omicsdi.org/dataset/biostudies-arrayexpress/E-GEOD-14002

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*The study did not directly evaluate a combined Frankincense and Sandalwood formulation. This statement reflects the author's interpretation of the differing biological mechanisms observed in the research.

Study Overview

Published in Chinese Medicine (2014), researchers compared Frankincense (Boswellia carterii) and Sandalwood (Santalum album) essential oils in cultured human bladder cancer cells. The study examined cell viability, gene expression, and biological pathways in order to better understand how the cells responded to each oil.

One conclusion from the paper captures the central finding:

"The effects of frankincense and sandalwood essential oils ... involved different mechanisms leading to cancer cell death."

The researchers reported that human bladder cancer J82 cells were more sensitive to the pro-apoptotic effects of Frankincense essential oil than the immortalized normal bladder cells.

Apoptosis is often described as programmed cell death—a normal biological process through which damaged, dysfunctional, or unnecessary cells are removed in an orderly manner.

In contrast, Sandalwood essential oil demonstrated similar potency against both cell types.  Although both oils activated certain common pathways, each produced a distinct pattern of molecular activity.

What follows is technical, but the core point is this: each oil triggered a different set of cellular responses.

According to the study, heat shock proteins and histone core proteins were activated by Frankincense essential oil, whereas negative regulation of protein kinase activity and G protein-coupled receptors were associated with Sandalwood essential oil treatment.

The researchers ultimately concluded:

"While frankincense essential oil elicited selective cancer cell death via NRF-2-mediated oxidative stress, sandalwood essential oil induced non-selective cell death via DNA damage and cell cycle arrest."

For many readers, this may be the most important observation in the entire paper.  The study did not simply report that cellular viability decreased.It suggested that the two oils appeared to influence the cultured cells through different biological mechanisms.

Why does that matter?

Researchers are often interested not only in outcomes, but in the pathways that produce those outcomes.

Many compounds can damage cells. Understanding how cellular changes occur can sometimes provide insights that simple measurements of viability cannot.

In this case, Frankincense and Sandalwood appeared to arrive at a similar destination by different routes.  That distinction may help explain why essential oils with very different chemistry can sometimes produce surprisingly similar observations in laboratory studies. 

The broader lesson extends beyond this particular study. Modern Boswellia research continues to reveal that details matter, species matter, preparation methods matter and chemical composition matters... and the type of evidence matters.

This growing complexity helps explain why modern discussions of Frankincense often produce conflicting conclusions. In many cases, people are not discussing the same material. They are discussing different Boswellia species, different preparations, and different types of research.

The problem is that these distinctions are often overlooked. A reader may encounter a study involving boswellic acids and assume it applies to Frankincense essential oil. Another may read a paper on a resin extract and assume the findings apply to every Boswellia preparation. The deeper one looks, the more important these distinctions become.

This study serves as a useful reminder that understanding the details may be just as important as understanding the results.

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For educational purposes only. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

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Further Reading from the Ananda Apothecary™ Library:

Frankincense and Cancer Research: What the Studies Actually Show
Explore laboratory studies involving Boswellia essential oils, boswellic acids, and resin-derived compounds, and why preparation method matters when interpreting research findings.

CO2 Extracts vs. Essential Oils: When Does the Difference Matter?
Explore why Frankincense became one of the most discussed CO₂ extracts in aromatherapy and how extraction method changes the chemistry of the finished material.

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References

This article is fundamentally about a single study.

Dozmorov MG, Yang Q, Wu W, et al. Differential Effects of Selective Frankincense Essential Oil Versus Non-Selective Sandalwood Essential Oil on Cultured Human Bladder Cancer Cells.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25006348/

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Al-Harrasi A, Al-Saidi S, et al. The Chemical Composition and Biological Activities of Boswellia Species.

NIH full text: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3606720/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih

PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23533463/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih

(Note: The records available are entitled: “Chemistry and biology of essential oils of genus Boswellia”. You will notice both have been retracted since the original writing of the article.)