title: Natural phenolic compounds from medicinal herbs and dietary plants: potential use for cancer prevention.
abstract: Natural phenolic compounds play an important role in cancer prevention and treatment. Phenolic compounds from medicinal herbs and dietary plants include phenolic acids, flavonoids, tannins, stilbenes, curcuminoids, coumarins, lignans, quinones, and others. Various bioactivities of phenolic compounds are responsible for their chemopreventive properties (e.g., antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, or antimutagenic and anti-inflammatory effects) and also contribute to their inducing apoptosis by arresting cell cycle, regulating carcinogen metabolism and ontogenesis expression, inhibiting DNA binding and cell adhesion, migration, proliferation or differentiation, and blocking signaling pathways. This review covers the most recent literature to summarize structural categories and molecular anticancer mechanisms of phenolic compounds from medicinal herbs and dietary plants.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China. wuyang@ualberta.ca
authors.forename: Wu-Yang
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Yi-Zhong
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Yanbo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D016588:Anticarcinogenic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D016587:Antimutagenic Agents; D000975:Antioxidants; D002934:Cinnamates / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D002523:Edible Grain / Q000737:chemistry; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry; D017705:Lignans / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010636:Phenols / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D010945:Plants, Edible / Q000737:chemistry*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*; D011809:Quinones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D017365:Spices / Q000032:analysis; D013634:Tannins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D014675:Vegetables / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D016588:Anticarcinogenic Agents; D016587:Antimutagenic Agents; D000975:Antioxidants; D002934:Cinnamates; D005419:Flavonoids; D017705:Lignans; D010636:Phenols; D011809:Quinones; D013634:Tannins