Anticancer Properties of Bioactive Compounds of Berry Fruits - A Review

An overwhelming body of research has now firmly established that the dietary intake of berry fruits has a positive and profound impact on human health, performance, and disease. Evidence suggests that edible small and soft-fleshed berry fruits may have beneficial effects against several types of human cancers. Studies show that the anticancer effects of berry bioactives reduce and repair damage resulting from oxidative stress and inflammation. In addition, also regulate carcinogen and xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes, various transcriptions and growth factors, inflammatory cytokines, and subcellular signaling pathways of cancer cell proliferation, apoptosis and tumor angiogenesis. Berry phytochemicals may also potentially sensitize tumor cells to chemotherapeutic agents by inhibiting pathways that lead to treatment resistance, and consumption may provide protection from therapy-associated toxicities. This paper is a comprehensive review of the effects of phytochemicals present in berry fruits on cancer and encompasses the occurrence and bioavailability of these compounds evidences for their effects on the various mechanisms by which may exert their effects. These include effects on cellular differentiation and apoptosis; effects on proteins and enzymes that are involved in these processes at a molecular level, and other various effects through altered immune function and chemical metabolism.