Resveratrol and Prostate Cancer: The Power of Phytochemicals
Nadia Zaffaroni, Giovanni Luca Beretta
Abstract
Prostate cancer is the fifth cause of tumor-related deaths in man worldwide. Due to its long latency period, this pathology represents an ideal type of disease for chemopreventive studies. Among the drugs considered thus far for the treatment of prostate cancer, the natural compound resveratrol emerged as very promising. Resveratrol is widely recognized as a chemopreventive agent and was shown to potentiate the antitumor activity of conventional chemotherapeutics in several tumors, including prostate cancer. Here, we overview the literature of the last five years and summarize the recent achievements of resveratrol and its derivatives as antimetastatic agents in prostate cancer. Moreover, drug combination studies as well as nanomedicine approaches proposed to improve resveratrol activity and to overcome delivery drawbacks are addressed. The last part of the review discusses the clinical trials containing resveratrol ongoing on cancer patients.