2014, Pages 1199–1216
Volume 2: Polyphenols in the Prevention and Treatment of Vascular and Cardiac Disease, and Cancer
Chapter 90 – Cancer Chemoprevention by Dietary Polyphenols: Role for Epigenetics and Inflammation
Cancer
remains a major health problem and is one of the leading causes of
deaths worldwide. It is a complex disease which can originate from
several causes, and genome-wide association studies have indicated
already the existence of several genetic variants that might contribute
to the initiation or the progression of the disease. More recently,
chronic inflammatory responses and epigenetic modulations came into the
picture, and are being envisioned as key players in the development of
most human cancers. Nowadays, it is generally accepted that lifestyle,
including nutrition, can tremendously influence the overall health
conditions. Numerous clinical and epidemiological studies could
underline the beneficial role of several nutritional compounds including
polyphenols. The most studied and promising examples of these dietary
polyphenols include epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) from green tea,
genistein from soybean, resveratrol from grapes and curcumin from
turmeric. In a given compound, dose- and cell type-dependent manner,
anti-inflammatory as well as epigenetics-regulatory functions could be
attributed to these polyphenolic compounds, allowing for a potential
therapeutic value. In this review we discuss the potential
chemopreventive effect exerted by nutritional intake of phytotherapeutic
compounds, more specifically dietary polyphenols, in cancer development
via their effects on inflammatory and epigenetic pathways.
Keywords
- chemoprevention;
- epigenetics;
- DNA methylation;
- histone modification;
- miRNA;
- gene expression;
- NF-κB;
- therapy
Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
