Chapter 13 - Phytochemicals as Epigenetic Modifiers for Cancer Management With Special Reference to Lung Cancer

Abstract

Lung cancer is one of the deadliest types of cancers and a major health burden around the globe. It has a low survival rate due to late diagnosis of the disease. In addition, poor understanding and the multifactorial nature of the disease lead to low treatment outcomes and the failure of chemotherapeutic drugs. Recent findings suggest that epigenetic alteration contributes to the genesis of lung cancer development and chemoresistance. Interestingly, different kinds of epigenetic alterations have occurred in the different stages of cancer development, such as initiation, promotion and metastasis. The term “epigenetics” refers to reversible, heritable genetic changes without causing any alterations in the genetic code of DNA. Epigenetic modifications include DNA methylation, histone modification, and noncoding microRNA (miRNA) expression. Numerous phytochemicals identified from dietary foods and medicinal plants have been found to act against a vast number of cancer models. Interestingly, molecular studies have concluded that phytochemicals abrogate cancer growth by modulating several epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA hypermethylation, miRNA overexpression, and histone modification. In this chapter, we focus on common epigenetic modifications in lung cancer and other carcinogenesis, highlighting the role of phytochemicals in modulating therapeutically important epigenetic modifications in human lung cancer and other cancer cell models.