Chemopreventive Mechanisms of Natural Products in Oral, Mammary and Skin Carcinogenesis: An Overview

ABSTRACT

Cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and represents a tremendous burden to the individual, family and society. External factors such as tobacco, chemicals, radiation, viruses and internal factors such as inherited mutations and immune status may act together or in sequence to initiate or promote carcinogenesis. Cancer chemoprevention is recognized as the most promising and novel approach to prevent, inhibit or reverse the carcinogenic processes by intervention with natural products or synthetic chemical substances. A large number of traditional medicinal plants and their active principles were reported to have chemopreventive properties. Chemopreventive agents may act on one or several steps [initiation, promotion, progression] of carcinogenesis. Agents that possess antimutagenic, anticarcinogenic, inhibitory effects on cell proliferation, antioxidant function and modulating effect on carcinogen detoxification are considered as good chemopreventive agents. The aim of the present review paper is to provide the list of chemopreventive agents and their mechanism of actions, reported for the past 10 to 15 years, against chemical carcinogen induced oral, mammary and skin carcinogenesis.

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