Bioactive food components and cancer risk reduction
- 18 December 2007
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Wiley in Journal of Cellular Biochemistry
- Vol. 104 (1), 339-356
- https://doi.org/10.1002/jcb.21623
Abstract
Research over the last three decades has provided convincing evidence to support the premise that diets rich in fruits and vegetables may be protective against the risk of different types of cancers. Initial evidence for protective effect of fruits and vegetables against cancer risk came from population‐based case‐control studies, which prompted intense research aimed at (a) identification of bioactive component(s) responsible for the anticancer effects of fruits and vegetables, (b) elucidation of the mechanisms by which bioactive food components may prevent cancer, and (c) determination of their efficacy for prevention of cancer in animal models. The bioactive components responsible for cancer chemopreventive effects of various edible plants have now been identified. For instance, anticancer effect of Allium vegetables including garlic is attributed to organosulfur compounds (e.g., diallyl trisulfide). Interestingly, unlike cancer chemotherapy drugs, many bioactive food components selectively target cancer cells. Molecular basis for selectivity of anticancer bioactive food components towards cancer cells remains elusive, but these agents appear promiscuous and target multiple signal transduction pathways to inhibit cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo. Despite convincing observational and experimental evidence, however, limited effort has been directed towards clinical investigations to determine efficacy of bioactive food components for prevention of human cancers. This article reviews current knowledge on cancer chemopreventive effects of a few highly promising dietary constituents, including garlic‐derived organosulfides, berry compounds, and cruciferous vegetable‐derived isothiocyanates, and serves to illustrate complexity of the signal transduction mechanisms in cancer chemoprevention by these promising bioactive food components. J. Cell. Biochem. 104: 339–356, 2008.Keywords
This publication has 101 references indexed in Scilit:
- Cancer prevention with freeze-dried berries and berry componentsSeminars in Cancer Biology, 2007
- Cruciferous vegetables and human cancer risk: epidemiologic evidence and mechanistic basisPharmacological Research, 2007
- Suppression of NF-κB and NF-κB-regulated gene expression by sulforaphane and PEITC through IκBα, IKK pathway in human prostate cancer PC-3 cellsOncogene, 2005
- Diallyl disulfide (DADS) increases histone acetylation and p21waf1/cip1 expression in human colon tumor cell linesCarcinogenesis: Integrative Cancer Research, 2004
- Cancer chemoprevention with dietary phytochemicalsNature Reviews Cancer, 2003
- Differential Induction of NAD(P)H:Quinone Oxidoreductase by Anti-Carcinogenic Organosulfides from GarlicBiochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 1998
- Novel Anti-Carcinogenic Activity of an Organosulfide from Garlic: Inhibition of H-RASOncogene Transformed Tumor Growthin Vivoby Diallyl Disulfide Is Associated with Inhibition of p21H-rasProcessingBiochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 1996
- The effects of phenethyl isothiocyanate on benzo[a]pyrene-induced tumors and DNA adducts in AJ mouse lungCancer Letters, 1993
- Chemopreventive action of garlic on methylcholanthrene-induced carcinogenesis in the uterine cervix of miceCancer Letters, 1990
- Protection against 3-methylcholanthrene-induced skin tumorigenesis in Balb/C mice by ellagic acidBiochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 1984