title: Ellagitannins in Cancer Chemoprevention and Therapy.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Food Science &amp; Nutrition, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Bosan Road, Multan 60800, Punjab, Pakistan. ammarbintariq@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Tariq
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ismail
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Via I Maggetti 26, 61029 Urbino (PU), Italy. anna.diaz@uniurb.it.|Department for Life Quality Studies, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Corso d'Augusto 237, 47921 Rimini (RN), Italy. anna.diaz@uniurb.it.
authors.forename: Cinzia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Calcabrini
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Via I Maggetti 26, 61029 Urbino (PU), Italy.
authors.forename: Anna Rita
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Diaz
authors.affiliation: Department for Life Quality Studies, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Corso d'Augusto 237, 47921 Rimini (RN), Italy. cinzia.calcabrini@unibo.it.
authors.forename: Carmela
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fimognari
authors.affiliation: Department for Life Quality Studies, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Corso d'Augusto 237, 47921 Rimini (RN), Italy. carmela.fimognari@unibo.it.
authors.forename: Eleonora
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Turrini
authors.affiliation: Department for Life Quality Studies, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Corso d'Augusto 237, 47921 Rimini (RN), Italy. eleonora.turrini@unibo.it.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Catanzaro
authors.affiliation: Institute of Food Science &amp; Nutrition, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Bosan Road, Multan 60800, Punjab, Pakistan. saeedbzu@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akhtar
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Via I Maggetti 26, 61029 Urbino (PU), Italy. piero.sestili@uniurb.it.
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sestili
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016588:Anticarcinogenic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000633:toxicity; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000633:toxicity; D018890:Chemoprevention; D004032:Diet; D006801:Humans; D047348:Hydrolyzable Tannins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000633:toxicity; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D016588:Anticarcinogenic Agents; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D047348:Hydrolyzable Tannins
keywords: cancer; cancer therapy; chemoprevention; ellagitannins; phytochemicals; safety