Overcoming the Challenges of Phytochemicals in Triple Negative Breast Cancer Therapy: The Path Forward

Mohammed Alaouna; Clement Penny; Rodney Hull; Thulo Molefi; Nkhensani Chauke-Malinga; Richard Khanyile; Malose Makgoka; Meshack Bida; Zodwa Dlamini

doi:10.3390/plants12122350

Overcoming the Challenges of Phytochemicals in Triple Negative Breast Cancer Therapy: The Path Forward

Plants (Basel). 2023 Jun 16;12(12):2350. doi: 10.3390/plants12122350.

Authors

Mohammed Alaouna^{1

2}, Clement Penny², Rodney Hull¹, Thulo Molefi^{1

3}, Nkhensani Chauke-Malinga^{1

4}, Richard Khanyile^{1

3}, Malose Makgoka^{1

5}, Meshack Bida^{1

6}, Zodwa Dlamini¹

Affiliations

¹ SAMRC Precision Oncology Research Unit (PORU), DSI/NRF SARChI Chair in Precision Oncology and Cancer Prevention (POCP), Pan African Cancer Research Institute (PACRI), University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.
² Department of Internal Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Parktown 2193, South Africa.
³ Department of Medical Oncology, Steve Biko Academic Hospital and University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.
⁴ Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, Steve Biko Academic Hospital, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.
⁵ Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, Steve Biko Academic Hospital, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.
⁶ Department of Anatomical Pathology, National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.

Abstract

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a very aggressive subtype of breast cancer that lacks estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptor expression. TNBC is thought to be produced by Wnt, Notch, TGF-beta, and VEGF pathway activation, which leads to cell invasion and metastasis. To address this, the use of phytochemicals as a therapeutic option for TNBC has been researched. Plants contain natural compounds known as phytochemicals. Curcumin, resveratrol, and EGCG are phytochemicals that have been found to inhibit the pathways that cause TNBC, but their limited bioavailability and lack of clinical evidence for their use as single therapies pose challenges to the use of these phytochemical therapies. More research is required to better understand the role of phytochemicals in TNBC therapy, or to advance the development of more effective delivery mechanisms for these phytochemicals to the site where they are required. This review will discuss the promise shown by phytochemicals as a treatment option for TNBC.

Keywords: Wnt; angiogenesis; apoptosis; epithelial to mesenchymal transition; metastasis; phytomedicine; tyrosine kinase.

Publication types

Review

Abstract

Publication types

Grants and funding