The Inhibitory Mechanisms of Capsaicin Against Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the one of the leading cancers and causes mortality worldwide. There is a steady increase in the incidences of CRC in India due to the change of Western food style. Despite having lower incidence rates than many Western nations, there have been notable improvements in recent years. The two most widely used clinical treatments for CRC are surgery and chemotherapy. To combat the growth of drug resistance and side effects, new and effective medications are however urgently needed. Since many natural substances are well tolerated by patients and don’t have hazardous side effects even at high dosages, they are the target drug for cancer treatment. In this chapter we discuss the effect of capsaicin on regulating the CRC. Capsaicin (C18H27NO3, 8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide), a bioactive component of red chili, is used widely as a food additive and an analgesic. Capsaicin exhibits antiproliferative properties against lung, prostate, pancreatic, and breast cancer. This chapter summarizes the recent findings on capsaicin pharmacological activity, which shed light on the mechanism underlying the apoptotic effects of capsaicin, suggesting that capsaicin may present interesting new options for improving CRC therapy.