Antitumor Immunity and Dietary Compounds

Abstract

The mechanisms by which natural dietary compounds exert their antitumor effects have been the focus of a large number of research efforts in recent years. Induction of apoptosis by inhibition of cell proliferative pathways is one of the common means of cell death employed by these dietary compounds. However, agents that can activate an antitumor immune response in addition to a chemotherapeutic effect may be useful adjuvants or alternative therapies for the treatment of cancer. The focus of this review is to highlight representative dietary compounds, namely Withania somnifera, Panax ginseng, curcumin and resveratrol with special emphasis on their antitumor immune mechanism of action. Each of these dietary compounds and their sources has a history of safe human use as food or in herbal medicine traditions, potentially making them ideal therapeutics. Here we report the recent advances in the cellular immune mechanisms utilized by these compounds to induce antitumor immunity. Taken together, these findings provide a new perspective for exploiting novel dietary compounds as chemoimmunotherapeutic anti-cancer agents.