Cancer Preventive Effect and Anti-cancer Activity of Plant Polyphenols

Plant polyphenols consist of a number of plant-derived phenolic compounds, including polyphenols (e.g., tannins), flavonoids, and phenolic acids, which have inhibitory effect on the proliferation of human cancer cells in vitro and inhibit the growth of animal tumor models in vivo. Their mechanism of action is mainly involved in antioxidative effect, manipulating cancer cell cycle, inducing apoptosis and differentiation of cancer cells, regulating angiogenesis and signal transduction of cancer cells. The anticancer therapeutic and chemoprevention properties of plant polyphenols need to be investigated further.