Multifaceted ability of naturally occurring polyphenols against metastatic cancer.

Although cancer metastases are known to be the main cause of cancer-related deaths, truly effective antimetastatic therapeutics remain scarce in clinical practice. Naturally occurring polyphenols are the most abundant antioxidants in human diets. Many of them possess chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic properties against various types of cancer. Recent advances in understanding the molecular pathways that mediate cancer development and progression have led to an increase of interest in preclinical investigations on the mechanisms underlying anticancer activity of polyphenols. In particular, an increasing number of preclinical studies using cultured cells and animal models have demonstrated the inhibitory effects of polyphenols on tumour cell invasion and metastasis, thereby highlighting the potential of polyphenols against metastatic cancer. This review specifically addresses growing evidence of the capability of polyphenols to impair the invasion and migration of tumour cells through a diverse set of mechanisms, including downregulation of expression of matrix metalloproteinases, modulation of regulators of epithelial-mesenchymal transition, interference with Met signalling, inhibition of nuclear factor-kappa B mediated transcription, and so on. Given that metastasis occurs through a multistep process in which each step is regulated by a complex network of signalling pathways, the multi-function and multi-target characteristics of polyphenols render those promising candidates for effective adjuvant therapy against metastatic cancer.