Stem cell targeting efficacy of dietary phytochemicals in colon cancer Growth inhibition of stem cells by phytochemicals

Abstract

Background: The standard of care treatment options for colon cancer include the use of conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy and/or molecularly targeted pathway selective pharmacological agents. These long-term treatment options are associated with systemic toxicity, acquired phenotypic resistance and emergence of chemo-resistant cancer initiating stem cell population. These limitations favor metastatic disease progression, compromise patient compliance, and thereby, emphasize identification of testable therapeutic alternatives for chemo-therapy resistant colon cancer. Naturally-occurring dietary phytochemicals exhibit low systemic toxicity, human consumption and preclinical efficacy. These natural products may provide potential alternatives.

Objectives: The present mini-review provides a systematic discussion of published evidence relevant to i) preclinical cellular models for colon cancer, ii) development of colon cancer stem cell models, iii) stem cell targeting efficacy of dietary phytochemicals and iv) applicability of present experimental approach to identify dietary phytochemicals as testable treatment alternatives for therapy resistant colon cancer.

Conclusions: Isolation and characterization of drug resistant stem cell models provide experimental systems to examine stem cell targeting efficacy of dietary phytochemicals for chemo-therapy resistant colon cancer. Phytochemical-mediated growth inhibition validates experimental approaches to identify mechanistic leads for efficacious phytochemicals and prioritize these agents for further investigations.

Future Research: Published evidence defines a scientifically robust rationale for future research on patient derived tumor samples to reduce extrapolation of preclinical data for their clinical relevance and translatability.