The function of natural compounds in important anticancer mechanisms

Abstract

The existence of malignant tumors has been a threat to human life, health, and safety. Although the rapid development of radiotherapy, drug therapy, surgery, and local therapy has improved the quality of life of tumor patients, there are still some risks. Natural compounds are widely used in cancer because they are easy to obtain, have a good curative effects and have no obvious side effects, and play a vital role in the prevention and treatment of various cancers. Phenolic, flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, and other natural components of traditional Chinese medicine have certain anti-tumor activities, which can promote apoptosis, anti-proliferation, anti-metastasis, inhibit angiogenesis, change the morphology of cancer cells and regulate immune function, etc., and have positive effects on breast cancer, liver cancer, lung cancer, gastric cancer, rectal cancer and so on. To better understand the effects of natural compounds on cancer, this paper screened out four important pathways closely related to cancer, including cell death and immunogenic cell death, immune cells in the tumor microenvironment, inflammation and related pathways and tumor metastasis, and systematically elaborated the effects of natural compounds on cancer.

The Role of NQO1 in Ovarian Cancer

“…Natural compounds (also known as phytonutrients) are biological compounds that can be found in plants, bacteria, fungi and marine organisms. These compounds are often used as diet supplement worldwide showing important antioxidants, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects [70][71][72][73][74][75].…”

Insights on the Role of Polyphenols in Combating Cancer Drug Resistance

“…Recently, a novel idea for treating resistant tumors has emerged: using polyphenols to specifically target these cells. Curcumin has been shown to have anti-CSC properties in a variety of cancer types, including colon [ 256 ], pancreatic [ 257 ], liver [ 258 ], breast [ 259 ], and brain [ 260 ]. Colon cancer cells treated with curcumin had reduced levels of CSC markers such as CD44, CD133, and CD24 and a diminished ability to form a sphere [ 256 ].…”

“…Curcumin increased the sensitivity to gemcitabine in pancreatic cancer cells by inhibiting a long non-coding RNA called PVT1 [ 257 ]. Curcumin can also influence genes including Nanog, Sox2, and Oct4 that are involved in stemness [ 259 ]. Curcumin’s capacity to reduce antiapoptotic protein levels and raise proapoptotic protein levels in CSCs is another method by which it reduces chemoresistance [ 262 ].…”

Identification of anti-gastric cancer effects and molecular mechanisms of resveratrol: From network pharmacology and bioinformatics to experimental validation

“…Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) monomers have always played a crucial role in the drug treatment of diseases, especially in the field of oncology. TCM monomers have been widely used in clinical treatment because of their advantages of low toxicity, low cost, high efficiency and multiple targets[ 6 , 7 ]. Resveratrol, a natural polyphenol compound mainly extracted from Veratrum album (white hellebore), Polygonum cuspidatum and peanut, has been reported to be potentially involved in regulating the molecular pathways of malignancy to inhibit various cancers[ 8 - 10 ].…”