Molecular Approaches Toward Targeted Cancer Therapy with Some Food Plant Products: On the Role of Antioxidants

Cells in humans are constantly exposed to a variety of oxidizing agents from naturally occurring processes, environmental stimuli/pollutants, and lifestyle 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 oxidative damage to the biomolecules such as lipids, proteins, and DNA, resulting in an increased risk of diseases like cancer. Epidemiological studies have shown that effects of various dietary antioxidants and their bioactive components can perform a great role in cancer chemoprevention.

This chapter summarizes the current knowledge on some food plants and their phytochemicals acting as antioxidants in targeted cancer therapy and discusses the molecular approaches that can possibly be made with them in order to achieve some effective anticancer drug formulation. This chapter also focuses on some areas where further research is needed.