ISSN: 1837-9664Journal of Cancer
Global reach, higher impact
J Cancer 2024; 15(2):293-308. doi:10.7150/jca.90545 This issue Cite
Review
Dietary Polyphenols against Oxidative Stress in Head and Neck Cancer: What's New, What's Next
1. Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy.
2. Department of Informatics, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy.
3. AULSS4 - Veneto Orientale - Portogruaro, Venice, Italy.
4. Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy.
5. CNR Institute of Biomembranes, Bioenergetics and Molecular Biotechnologies (IBIOM), Bari, Italy.
Abstract
Head and neck cancers (HNC) are a worldwide health problem, accounting for over 5% of all types of cancers. Their varied nature makes it sometimes difficult to find clear explanations for the molecular mechanisms that underline their onset and development. While chemio- and radiotherapy are clearly not to be dismissed, we cannot undervalue the effect that polyphenols - especially dietary polyphenols - can have in helping us to cope with this medical emergency. By influencing several different proteins involved in numerous different metabolic pathways, polyphenols can have a broad spectrum of biological action and can hopefully act synergistically to tackle down head and neck cancer. Moreover, being natural molecules, polyphenols does not present any side effects and can even enhance drugs efficacy, making our clinical therapy against head and neck cancer more and more effective. Certainly, oxidative stress plays an important role, altering several molecular pathways, lowering the body's defenses, and ultimately helping to create a microenvironment conducive to the appearance and development of the tumor. In this regard, the regular and constant intake of foods rich in polyphenols can help counteract the onset of oxidative stress, improving the health of the general population. In this review, we highlight the role of polyphenols in managing oxidative stress, with such positive effects that they can be considered new tools to use in our anti-head and neck cancer strategy.
Keywords: head and neck cancer, polyphenol, oxidative stress, cancer metabolism, reactive oxygen species (ROS), clinical biochemistry, translational medicine, polyphenol therapeutic potential, clinical studies
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