Future Perspectives of Phytochemicals in Cancer Therapy

Abstract

Cancer is a heterogeneous group of diseases originating from genetic or epigenetic abnormalities of a single cell. It is the second most common cause of death after cardiovascular diseases. To minimize the handicaps such as side effects and drug resistance that occur in chemotherapy, which forms the basis of current treatment methods in cancer treatment, the potential of the use of chemicals obtained from natural sources is currently researched. Although there is a countless research on phytochemicals in conventional treatment applications, the potential of phytochemicals in modern molecular cancer research is reviewed in this chapter. The current works, which include the possible utilization of phytochemicals for eliminating cancer stem cells or in combinational usage with conventional drugs and nanomedicine approaches, were reviewed. It was determined that phytochemicals target cancer stem cells which are the major liable for therapy resistance, relapse, and tumor heterogeneity. It was also determined that phytochemicals improve chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments in combinational approaches. Moreover, nanoparticle encapsulation or conjugation strategies also enhance the bioavailability of the phytochemicals. It should be kept in mind that phytochemicals, like all other chemicals, can take their place in the modern medical approach after passing many in vitro and in vivo steps including selection of appropriate extraction method and elucidation of molecular mechanism.