Phytochemicals in Cancer Prevention and Therapy: Truth or Dare?

Abstract

A voluminous literature suggests that an increase in consumption of fruit and vegetables is a relatively easy and practical strategy to reduce significantly the incidence of cancer. The beneficial effect is mostly associated with the presence of phytochemicals in the diet. This review focuses on a group of them, namely isothiocyanate, curcumin, genistein, epigallocatechin gallate, lycopene and resveratrol, largely studied as chemopreventive agents and with potential clinical applications. Cellular and animal studies suggest that these molecules induce apoptosis and arrest cell growth by pleiotropic mechanisms. The anticancer efficacy of these compounds may result from their use in monotherapy or in association with chemotherapeutic drugs. This latter approach may represent a new pharmacological strategy against several types of cancers. However, despite the promising results from experimental studies, only a limited number of clinical trials are ongoing to assess the therapeutic efficacy of these molecules. Nevertheless, the preliminary results are promising and raise solid foundations for future investigations.

Anti-cancer potential of South Asian plants

“…Biological targets of phyto-chemicals in mammalian cells were found to be involved in inflammatory processes and oncogenic transformation, such as the alteration of cell cycle control, apoptosis evasion, angiogenesis and metastases 4 . Additionally, epidemiological studies suggest that the daily intake of certain phyto-chemicals can reduce the incidence of several types of cancers 5 . Thus, chemoprevention by dietary phyto-chemicals alone immerges as one of the most promising approaches for reduced risk of cancer development.…”

In vitro Anticancer Antibacterial and Antilarvicidal Activity of Different Solvent Extracts of Annona muricata

“…ACGs are derivatives of long chain (C35 to C37) fatty acids derived from the polyketide pathway. These fatty acids are found connected to a variablenumber of tetrahydrofuran (THF) or tetrahydropyran (THP) rings and a terminal lactone moiety 12 . ACGs are fascinating compounds due to their well-recognized cytotoxicity against various types of cancer cell lines.…”

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“…This approach has been shown great success, and the United States Food and Drug Administration has approved ten agents for cancer prevention, such as the identification and development of tamoxifen and raloxifene for reducing the risk of breast cancer, valrubicin for treatment of preinvasive bladder cancer, and a variety of topical and systemic agents that effectively treat preinvasive neoplastic lesions of the skin [7]. Epidemiological and experimental studies suggest that regular consumption of fruits and vegetables is a relatively practical strategy to reduce the risk of cancer [8]. Many non-nutritive substances derived from a plant-based diet, such as resveratrol, curcumin, sulforaphane, genistein, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), gingerol, and caffeic acid phenyl ester, commonly termed "phytochemicals", have been identified as promising cancer chemopreventive agents [9].…”