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Review
. 2017 Mar 14:8:109.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2017.00109. eCollection 2017.

New Insights toward Colorectal Cancer Chemotherapy Using Natural Bioactive Compounds

Saúl Redondo-Blanco  1 , Javier Fernández  1 , Ignacio Gutiérrez-Del-Río  1 , Claudio J Villar  1 , Felipe Lombó  1
Affiliations
Review

New Insights toward Colorectal Cancer Chemotherapy Using Natural Bioactive Compounds

Saúl Redondo-Blanco et al. Front Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Combination therapy consists in the simultaneous administration of a conventional chemotherapy drug (or sometimes, a radiotherapy protocol) together with one or more natural bioactives (usually from plant or fungal origin) of small molecular weight. This combination of anticancer drugs may be applied to cell cultures of tumor cells, or to an animal model for a cancer type (or its xenograft), or to a clinical trial in patients. In this review, we summarize current knowledge describing diverse synergistic effects on colorectal cancer cell cultures, animal models, and clinical trials of various natural bioactives (stilbenes, flavonoids, terpenes, curcumin, and other structural families), which may be important with respect to diminish final doses of the chemotherapy drug, although maintaining its biological effect. This is important as these approaches may help reduce side effects in patients under conventional chemotherapy. Also, these molecules may exerts their synergistic effects via different cell cycle pathways, including different ones to those responsible of resistance phenotypes: transcription factors, membrane receptors, adhesion and structural molecules, cell cycle regulatory components, and apoptosis pathways.

Keywords: CRC; apoptosis; chemotherapy; combination therapy; nutraceutical; radiotherapy.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chemical structures of bioactive stilbenes and flavonoids described in the text. (A) Resveratrol, (B) pterostilbene, (C) isoliquiritigenin, (D) apigenin, (E) chrysin, (F) quercetin, (G) oroxylin, (H) kaempferol, (I) genistein, (J) flavopiridol, (K) silibinin, (L) scutellarin, (M) EGCG.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Chemical structures of bioactive terpenoids and other compounds described in the text. (A) geraniol, (B) irofulven, (C) artesunate, (D) triptolide, (E) ursolic acid, (F) ginsenoside, (G) celastrol, (H) betulinic acid, (I) fucoxanthin, (J) curcumin, (K) gossypol.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Chemotherapy compounds that have been mentioned in this work and their main side effects.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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