Abstract
The traditional Mediterranean Diet constitutes a food model that refers to the dietary patterns of the population living in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in the early 1960s. A huge volume of literature data suggests that the Mediterranean-style diet provides several dietary compounds that have been reported to exert beneficial biological effects against a wide spectrum of chronic illnesses, such as cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases and cancer including breast carcinoma. Among bioactive nutrients identified as protective factors for breast cancer, natural polyphenols, retinoids, and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been reported to possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and antitumoral properties. The multiple anticancer mechanisms involved include the modulation of molecular events and signaling pathways associated with cell survival, proliferation, differentiation, migration, angiogenesis, antioxidant enzymes and immune responses. This review summarizes the anticancer action of some polyphenols, like resveratrol and epigallocatechin 3-gallate, retinoids and omega-3 PUFAs by highlighting the important hallmarks of cancer in terms of (i) cell cycle growth arrest, (ii) apoptosis, (iii) inflammation and (iv) angiogenesis. The data collected from in vitro and in vivo studies strongly indicate that these natural compounds could be the prospective candidates for the future anticancer therapeutics in breast cancer disease.
Highlights
Academic Editor: Department of Pharmacy, Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Calabria, Centro Sanitario, University of Calabria, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende, Italy
The present review focuses on current knowledge regarding the molecular mechanisms exerted by several nutraceuticals, such as resveratrol, epigallocatechin 3-gallate, retinoids and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) against typical hallmarks of breast cancer
The results revealed the inhibition of breast cancer cell growth by co-treatment with AZA and Epigallocatechin 3-gallate (EGCG) compared to individual treatments, whereas no effect was observed in MCF-10A cells
Summary
A PubMed search, run between 2000 and 2021, using the word “nutraceuticals and breast cancer” as the entry, yielded 1107 results, indicating that the scientific interest of nutraceutical area covered the oncology research field of the mammary gland over the last two decades. Some nutraceuticals included in the class of phytochemicals, vitamins or PUFAs—such as resveratrol, epigallocatechin 3-gallate, retinoids and omega-3 PUFAs that possibly affect breast tumor biology—will be reviewed and commented upon. The data screened were organized in separate sections including (1) characteristics of nutraceuticals selected; (2) anticancer mechanisms of nutraceuticals on breast cancer related to (i) cycle growth arrest, (ii) apoptosis, (iii) inflammation and (iv) angiogenesis. Due to the beneficial health effects of such molecules, we highlighted their potential as breast cancer preventive and/or therapeutic agents
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