Role of Antioxidants in Cancer Therapy and Chemoprevention

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Malignant diseases have been highlighted as one of the most prominent causes of human mortality worldwide. The prevalence of cancer is constantly increasing and is expected to reach three-fourths of the population in the next two decades. Conventional cancer treatment involves surgery, controlling and reducing the growth of cancer tissues using radiation, and chemotherapy. Many incidences prove that chemical treatment for cancer is immensely associated with the recurrence of cancer, and the development of resistance, and is prone to severe side effects. Since natural products have now been used in the treatment of various diseases, the anticancer properties of natural drugs and druggable products are interceded by various mechanisms, including the initiation of programmed cell death, modulations in the immune system, and inhibition of angiogenesis. Edible, medicinal plants and spices used in traditional medicine to regulate vital molecular targets are important chemopreventive agents in the treatment of chemo and radiation therapy-induced toxicities in drug development. Natural agents could trigger cell death signalling pathways in tumour cells by stimulating anti-apoptotic proteins and/or overcoming pro-apoptotic proteins and caspases. It inhibit protein kinase B (Akt), phosphatidylinositide 3-kinases (PI3K), epidermal growth factor receptor/mitogen-activated protein kinase (EGFR/MAPK), as well as nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB). Bax/Bcl-2 ratio changes, inhibiting cellular proliferation, and differentiation, and also activating apoptosis lead to less prominence. To summarize, this chapter highlights the current status, and forthcoming prospects of cancer treatment and prevention as well as the potential of bioactive compounds that have been used in cancer treatment and chemoprevention.