Ellagitannins in Cancer Chemoprevention and Therapy
Tariq Ismail,
Cinzia Calcabrini,
Anna Rita Diaz,
Carmela Fimognari,
Eleonora Turrini,
Elena Catanzaro,
Saeed Akhtar,
Piero Sestili
Affiliations
Tariq Ismail
Institute of Food Science & Nutrition, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Bosan Road, Multan 60800, Punjab, Pakistan
Cinzia Calcabrini
Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Via I Maggetti 26, 61029 Urbino (PU), Italy
Anna Rita Diaz
Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Via I Maggetti 26, 61029 Urbino (PU), Italy
Carmela Fimognari
Department for Life Quality Studies, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Corso d'Augusto 237, 47921 Rimini (RN), Italy
Eleonora Turrini
Department for Life Quality Studies, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Corso d'Augusto 237, 47921 Rimini (RN), Italy
Elena Catanzaro
Department for Life Quality Studies, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Corso d'Augusto 237, 47921 Rimini (RN), Italy
Saeed Akhtar
Institute of Food Science & Nutrition, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Bosan Road, Multan 60800, Punjab, Pakistan
Piero Sestili
Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Via I Maggetti 26, 61029 Urbino (PU), Italy
It is universally accepted that diets rich in fruit and vegetables lead to reduction in the risk of common forms of cancer and are useful in cancer prevention. Indeed edible vegetables and fruits contain a wide variety of phytochemicals with proven antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic, and chemopreventive activity; moreover, some of these phytochemicals also display direct antiproliferative activity towards tumor cells, with the additional advantage of high tolerability and low toxicity. The most important dietary phytochemicals are isothiocyanates, ellagitannins (ET), polyphenols, indoles, flavonoids, retinoids, tocopherols. Among this very wide panel of compounds, ET represent an important class of phytochemicals which are being increasingly investigated for their chemopreventive and anticancer activities. This article reviews the chemistry, the dietary sources, the pharmacokinetics, the evidence on chemopreventive efficacy and the anticancer activity of ET with regard to the most sensitive tumors, as well as the mechanisms underlying their clinically-valuable properties.
