Molecular approaches toward targeted cancer therapy with some food plant products: On the role of antioxidants and immune microenvironment

The human body is constantly exposed to a variety of oxidizing agents from naturally occurring processes, environmental stimuli/pollutants, and through lifestyle-related stress/activities. The key factor in a biological system is to maintain a balance between oxidants and antioxidants to sustain optimal physiological conditions. Imbalance of the process leads to oxidative stress which causes DNA damage and genomic instability resulting in an increased risk of cancer. Immune cells are one of the major components of the tumor microenvironment and can be affected by both oxidative stress and subsequent DNA damage response (DDR) in the tumor cells. This review summarizes the current knowledge of DDR and immune microenvironment in therapeutic cancer research and role of some food plants and their phytochemicals as antioxidants in targeted cancer therapy.