Insight into the Role of Dietary Phytochemicals in Cancer Treatment and Management

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. The body cell continues to replicate in an uncontrolled manner. Though anticancer drugs are currently in use today but still its reoccurrence, toxic side effects and drug resistance are important issues that need to be resolved. To resolve these issues, we need to search for new promising anticancer drugs that would have higher efficiency and lower side effects. Plant-based foods possess anti-cancerous properties. Apart from macronutrients and micronutrients plants have phytochemicals that are non-nutritive. Phytochemicals are naturally occurring organic plant compounds that protect them against invaders. Phytochemicals found in diets such as fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and tea are known as dietary phytochemicals. They are known to possess antimicrobial, antioxidant, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory activity and anticancer activity. So, phytochemicals and its derivatives might serve as an important drug for cancer treatment. They exert their effect by different mechanisms. They might act as a suppressing and blocking agents. As a blocking agent, phytochemicals prevents the activation of metabolic pro-carcinogens or its interaction with cellular molecules. While as a suppressing agent, phytochemicals retard the progression of precancer cells to malignant cells. Phytochemicals affect different cellular pathways such as DNA repair, apoptosis, epigenetics, angiogenesis, metastasis. Phytochemicals such as curcumin, resveratrol, quercetin, genistein, tea polyphenols, lycopene and organosulfur compounds can be used in cancer treatment and management. In this chapter we addressed the mechanism of action of different dietary phytochemicals in the treatment and management of cancer.