Chemopreventive and therapeutic properties of anthocyanins in breast cancer: A comprehensive review

Anthocyanins have received the attention of the scientific community because of their antioxidant, antimetastatic, and cancer-inhibitory properties. The aim of this review is to comprehensively summarize the possible mechanisms by which anthocyanins exhibit an-ticarcinogenic properties in breast cancer (BC) cell lines and animal models. Anthocyanins inhibit proinflammatory, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cell pathways and increase the activi-ties of detoxification enzymes. In addition, downregulation of metalloproteinases by antho-cyanins inhibits tumor invasion and metastatic processes in experimental systems. Antho-cyanins mediate anticancer and angiogenic effects by modifying multiple receptor families. Furthermore, inhibition of cell-cycle upstream polo-like kinase signaling, the chromoso-mal replication checkpoint, and ataxia telangiectasia mutated signaling may contribute to the anticarcinogenic effects of anthocyanins. Finally, anthocyanins induce mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis and downregulate the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase/AKT/mTOR path-way. In conclusion, anthocyanins have been shown to exert potential antitumor effects against breast carcinogenesis in vitro and in vivo, providing insights into the use of an-thocyanins as a natural chemopreventive intervention in BC.(c) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.