Nutritional Epigenetics and Phytochemicals in Cancer Formation

Abstract

Nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics are two concepts in the area of nutritional genomics. Epigenetics is a new discipline with significant potential in the prevention and management of certain carcinomas and diseases. Epigenetics consists of DNA methylation, histone modification, non-coding RNAs, and telomerase activity. Epigenetic-based mechanisms act on the inhibition of cancer cells by modulating enzymes such as DNA methyltransferase and histone deacetylase, as well as non-coding RNAs. Phytochemicals are natural bioactive components of plant origin that have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-angiogenic effects on various diseases, especially cancer. The epigenetic diet is a nutritional model based on the consumption of various phytochemicals such as epigallocatechin-3-gallate, morin, caffeic acid phenyl ester, apigenin, genistein, curcumin, resveratrol, and sulforaphane. Phytochemicals exert their effects on cancer-based by reducing cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis and increasing cell apoptosis. Simultaneously, it has functions such as reducing oncogenes that have effects on cancer etiology and increasing tumor suppressor genes.

Key teaching points

• Cancer is a chronic disease with a high mortality rate, in which various genetic and environmental factors are involved in its etiology.

• Protooncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, and DNA repair genes are among the gene groups that form the basis of cancer and genetic structure.

• The bidirectional interaction between nutrition and the human genome has been effective in the emergence of the concepts of nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics.

• Epigenetic diet is a diet based on the consumption of foods such as soy, grapes, blueberries, turmeric, cruciferous vegetables, and green tea, which induce epigenetic mechanisms that protect against cancer and aging.

Keywords:

• Cancer
• nutritional epigenetics
• phytochemicals
• nutrition

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Funding

The authors report that there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.