Li YH, Niu YB, Sun Y, Zhang F, Liu CX, Fan L, Mei QB. Role of phytochemicals in colorectal cancer prevention. World J Gastroenterol 2015; 21(31): 9262-9272 [PMID: 26309353 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i31.9262]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Qi-Bing Mei, PhD, Key Laboratory of Gastrointestinal Pharmacology of Chinese Materia Medica of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Collaborative Innovation Center for Chinese Medicine in Qinba Mountains, Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Fourth Military Medical University, No. 169 Changle West Road, Xi’an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China. qbmei53@hotmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Topic Highlight
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 21, 2015; 21(31): 9262-9272 Published online Aug 21, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i31.9262
Role of phytochemicals in colorectal cancer prevention
Yu-Hua Li, Yin-Bo Niu, Yang Sun, Feng Zhang, Chang-Xu Liu, Lei Fan, Qi-Bing Mei
Yu-Hua Li, Yang Sun, Feng Zhang, Lei Fan, Qi-Bing Mei, Key Laboratory of Gastrointestinal Pharmacology of Chinese Materia Medica of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Collaborative Innovation Center for Chinese Medicine in Qinba Mountains, Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China
Yu-Hua Li, No. 181 Hospital of PLA, Guilin 541002, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Yin-Bo Niu, Key Laboratory for Space Bioscience and Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, Shaanxi Province, China
Chang-Xu Liu, No. 303 Hospital of PLA, Nanning 530022, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Author contributions: Li YH and Mei QB did problem formulation; Niu YB, Sun Y and Fan L performed literature search; Li YH, Zhang F, and Liu CX wrote the paper.
Supported by Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China, No. 2012M512102, No. 2013T60964; and National Nature Science Foundation of China, No. 81302787.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Qi-Bing Mei, PhD, Key Laboratory of Gastrointestinal Pharmacology of Chinese Materia Medica of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Collaborative Innovation Center for Chinese Medicine in Qinba Mountains, Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Fourth Military Medical University, No. 169 Changle West Road, Xi’an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China. qbmei53@hotmail.com
Telephone: +86-29-84779212 Fax: +86-29-84779212
Received: March 27, 2015 Peer-review started: March 28, 2015 First decision: April 28, 2014 Revised: May 9, 2015 Accepted: July 15, 2015 Article in press: July 15, 2015 Published online: August 21, 2015 Processing time: 145 Days and 22.1 Hours
Abstract
Although the incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) has been declining in recent decades, it remains a major public health issue as a leading cause of cancer mortality and morbidity worldwide. Prevention is one milestone for this disease. Extensive study has demonstrated that a diet containing fruits, vegetables, and spices has the potential to prevent CRC. The specific constituents in the dietary foods which are responsible for preventing CRC and the possible mechanisms have also been investigated extensively. Various phytochemicals have been identified in fruits, vegetables, and spices which exhibit chemopreventive potential. In this review article, chemopreventive effects of phytochemicals including curcumin, polysaccharides (apple polysaccharides and mushroom glucans), saponins (Paris saponins, ginsenosides and soy saponins), resveratrol, and quercetin on CRC and the mechanisms are discussed. This review proposes the need for more clinical evidence for the effects of phytochemicals against CRC in large trials. The conclusion of the review is that these phytochemicals might be therapeutic candidates in the campaign against CRC.
Core tip: Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains a major public health issue as a leading cause of cancer mortality and morbidity worldwide. Chemoprevention is one milestone for this disease. A diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, and spices has the potential to prevent CRC. This manuscript reviews the phytochemicals in these dietary foods that are responsible for preventing CRC and the possible mechanisms. Various phytochemicals have been identified in fruits, vegetables, and spices which exhibit chemopreventive potential. This work will further promote the importance of phytochemicals in CRC prevention.
