Dietary Polyphenols in Cancer

Abstract

Cancer is a group of diseases characterized by uncontrollable growth of abnormal cells that have the ability to spread in various parts of the body. Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide. According to Global Cancer statistics, there were about 19.3 million new cancer cases and 10 million cancer deaths reported in the year 2020 globally. The pharmacological treatment of cancer includes hormone therapy, immunotherapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of all. Among these, the major obstacle in chemotherapy is Multi Drug Resistance (MDR). Continuous doses of chemotherapeutic agents reduce efflux outside the cell, which hampers permeation across cell membranes. Phytomedicines have been widely explored for the treatment of different types of cancer. Phytomedicines provide therapy that is an alternative to that of conventional treatment. The major advantage of using phytochemicals as anticancer agents is that they do not show any deleterious effect during the course of treatment. The potential benefits of dietary polyphenols in human health fetched tremendous attraction for researchers due to beneficial effects. Resveratrol, epigallocatechin, and curcumin are the most extensively studied polyphenols. Apart from their promising role in cancer prevention, one of the major limitations is poor bioavailability upon administration of pure compound and that limits their use. The efficacy of polyphenols can be affected by other constituents present in the diet. The efficacy and bioavailability can be improved by combination with other phytochemical and anticancer drugs or formulating in nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems. In this chapter we provide bench to bedside information about the role of polyphelos in cancer.