Use of potential dietary phytochemicals to target miRNA: Promising option for breast cancer prevention and treatment?

Abstract

Breast cancer is one of the most common forms of cancers in females. Traditional therapies are associated with adverse side effects, and drug resistance, recurrence, and lack of treatment in metastasis are the major problems. Accumulating evidence indicates that dietary phytochemicals may exert therapeutic effects by regulating miRNA expression. A number of dietary phytochemicals have been tested as miRNA regulatory agents against breast cancer, and some other numbers of dietary phytochemicals have not yet been tested. Our aim is to introduce some of the potential dietary phytochemicals (benzyl isothiocyanate, capsaicin, epigallocatechin gallate, oleanolic acid, phenethyl isothiocyanate, and ursolic acid) that have shown miRNA regulatory activities, and have not yet been tested against breast cancer miRNAs. We also discuss the effects of curcumin, diallyl disulphide, 3,3′-diindolylmethane, ellagic acid, genistein, indole-3-carbinol, quercetin, resveratrol, and sulforaphane on regulation of expression of breast cancer miRNAs in various in vitro and in vivo models.