Table 4.
Overview of current clinical evaluation of the effect of phytochemicals in breast cancer therapy (not combined with conventional anticancer therapies)
| Phytochemical | Study design | Year | Study participants (number) | Results | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low-fat dietary pattern (fruits, vegetables, grains) | Long-term follow-up of the Women’s Health Initiative Randomized Trial | 2020 | Postmenopausal women (n = 48,835) | Reduced risk of death in post-menopausal breast cancer patients | [96] |
| CHM | Clinical trial and network pharmacology | 2017 | Metastatic breast cancer patients (n = 182) | Correlation with favourable survival outcomes (potentially through inhibition of HSP90, ERα, and TOP-II related pathways) | [97] |
| GSP | 2017 | Early breast cancer patients (n = 12) receiving GSP 300 mg, equivalent to 44.9 mg of EGCG, daily for 4 weeks prior to surgery | Total EGCG detectable in all tumour tissue; median total EGCG concentration higher in tumour vs. adjacent normal tissue; free EGCG plasma levels positive correlation with the Ki-67 decrease in tumour | [98] | |
| Orally taken silybin-phosphatidylcholine | Clinical trial | 2016 | BC patients (n = 12) | High silybin blood concentration and selectively accumulation in breast tumour tissue | [99] |
| Long-term pre-diagnosis consumption of soy | Population-based cohort study | 2016 | TNBC patients (n = 272) | Over-expressed microRNA-29a-3p and IGF1R and under-expressed KRAS and FGFR4 | [100] |
| Cruciferous vegetables | Clinical trial baseline | 2016 | Women with abnormal mammogram findings scheduled for breast biopsy (n = 54) | Intake of cruciferous vegetables associated with decreased cell proliferation (decreased Ki67 in DCIS but not in benign tissues or IDC) | [101] |
| Short-term dietary intervention on nutrition education | Randomized controlled trial | 2016 | Spanish-speaking women (n = 70) with a history of stage 0–III breast cancer | Efficacy in increasing vegetables and fruits intake and altered biomarker of BC recurrence risk—increase in global DNA methylation | [102] |
BC; breast cancer, CDT; complex decongestive therapy, CHM; Chinese herbal medicine, DCIS; ductal carcinoma in situ, DNA; deoxyribonucleic acid, EGCG; epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate, ERα; oestrogen receptor alpha, GSP; Greenselect Phytosome, HSP90; heat shock protein90, IDC; invasive ductal carcinoma, TNBC; triple-negative breast cancer, TOP-II; topoisomerase II