Abstract
Breast cancer is the most prevalent type of cancer among women worldwide. There are several recommended methods of breast cancer prevention, including chemoprevention. There are several approved drugs used to prevent breast cancer occurrence or recurrence and metastasizing. There are also a number of new substances undergoing clinical trials and at the stage of initial study. Studies suggest that dietary factors play a crucial role in breast cancer etiology. Epidemiological studies indicate that in particular vegetables from the Brassicaceae family are a rich source of chemopreventive substances, with sulforaphane (SFN) being one of the most widely studied and characterized. This review discusses potential applicability of SFN in breast cancer chemoprevention. A comprehensive review of the literature on the impact of SFN on molecular signalling pathways in breast cancer and breast untransformed cells is presented. The presented results of in vitro and in vivo studies show that this molecule has a potential to act as a preventive molecule either to prevent disease development or recurrence and metastasizing, and as a compound protecting normal cells against the toxic effects of cytostatics. Finally, the still scanty attempts to develop an improved analog are also presented and discussed.
Highlights
According to the latest global cancer statistics database (GLOBOCAN) released in September 2018, in the 21st century cancer will be the main cause of death and the single most important barrier to increasing life expectancy in every country of the world
Milczarek et al showed that the combination of SFN with 5-fluorouracil produced a significant reduction in the cell growth of the breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cell line, and doxorubicin (DOX) + SFN was shown by Mielczarek et al to have a synergistic effect on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells [126,127]
Despite a reduction in mortality observed in recent years, breast cancer is the main cause of cancer-related deaths among women, and remains a critical problem not of health alone, and in socio-economic terms
Summary
According to the latest global cancer statistics database (GLOBOCAN) released in September 2018, in the 21st century cancer will be the main cause of death and the single most important barrier to increasing life expectancy in every country of the world. 2.1 million newly diagnosed female breast cancer cases in 2018, accounting for almost 1 in 4 cancer cases among women were expected. Epidemiological studies show that a diet rich in fruit and vegetables significantly reduces the risk of developing lung, esophageal, laryngeal, pancreatic, colorectal, gastric and prostate cancers, as well as breast cancer [3,4,5]. Vegetables from the Brassicaceae family are a rich source of chemopreventive substances These include 350 plant species, such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts [6,7,8]. It has been shown that phytochemical compounds and their precursors contained in these vegetables reduce the risk of developing cancer, including breast cancer [9,10]. This paper reviews and discusses the activity of this group of compounds in relation to breast cancer, which seems to be their specific target
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