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Prostate Cancer, Oxidative Stress, and Antioxidant Phytochemicals: A Brief Review

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Abstract

Purpose of Review

This paper aimed to examine the biological mechanism of oxidative stress in prostate cancer (PCa) progression and review the potential of antioxidant phytochemicals as chemoprevention or chemotherapy for PCa.

Recent Findings

There is growing concern about the health benefits of eating fruits and vegetables, especially for preventing and treating chronic diseases, such as PCa. Epidemiological studies and clinical trials have shown that these health benefits are closely related to antioxidant phytochemicals. Experimental and clinical evidence showed that oxidative stress is one of the important factors in the pathogenesis of PCa. The balance between oxidative and antioxidant components and the regulatory mechanisms appear to play an important role in the development of malignant states of the prostate. Antioxidant phytochemicals have the potential for cancer chemoprevention and chemotherapy. Moreover, lower or higher concentrations of antioxidant phytochemicals have different effects, possibly due to different intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) leading to different cellular stress responses. At low concentrations, antioxidant phytochemicals appear to inhibit ROS formation, while at high concentrations, they selectively kill cells, possibly by promoting ROS production and mitochondrial dysfunction.

Summary

The antioxidant phytochemicals show strong potential for chemoprevention and chemotherapy in human PCa, possibly through the regulation of ROS. Targeting oxidative stress with antioxidant phytochemicals during the development of PCa will provide important approaches for designing single or combined cancer treatment strategies.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank all members of Dr. Wenji Li's laboratory for their strong support.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81973518), Talent’s start-up fund from Yangzhou University (137011474, 137012826).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Translational Medicine, Medical College, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, 225009, People’s Republic of China

    Shanyi Li, Tong Cai, Shichen Cui, Fangmin Liu, Rong Hu & Wenji Li

  2. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine for Prevention and Treatment of Senile Diseases, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, 225009, People’s Republic of China

    Shanyi Li, Tong Cai, Shichen Cui, Fangmin Liu, Rong Hu & Wenji Li

  3. Sino-Malaysia Molecular Oncology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Delivery Joint Research Centre, Medical College, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, 225009, People’s Republic of China

    Shanyi Li, Tong Cai, Shichen Cui, Fangmin Liu, Rong Hu & Wenji Li

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  1. Shanyi Li
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  2. Tong Cai
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  3. Shichen Cui
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Contributions

WL designed and allocated the review tasks, revised and submited the manuscript. SL wrote the majority of the manuscript. TC,SC,FL,RH wrote and revised the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Wenji Li.

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Li, S., Cai, T., Cui, S. et al. Prostate Cancer, Oxidative Stress, and Antioxidant Phytochemicals: A Brief Review. Curr. Pharmacol. Rep. 9, 391–396 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40495-023-00344-w

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