Flavonoids in the Fight against Upper Gastrointestinal Tract Cancers

Flavonoids are plant secondary metabolites with a basic polyphenolic skeleton and anticancer properties have greatly attracted the interest of scientists already for several years. This structurally diverse group of phytochemicals can be found abundantly in various edible plant products, such as fruits and vegetables, tea and cocoa, nuts, spices, grains and medicinal herbs. In the past decades, numerous experimental studies have shown antiproliferative, proapoptotic, antiinflammatory, antiangiogenic, antiinvasive and antimetastatic activities of these compounds in different cancerous systems. Because of close contacts and interactions of ingested food components with the epithelial lining of organ sites of the upper gastrointestinal tract, flavonoids can directly affect the development and progression of malignant neoplasms in the oral cavity, esophagus and stomach. This book gives a comprehensive and contemporary survey about the different anticancer actions of various natural and semisynthetic flavonoids in experimental models of oral, pharyngeal, esophageal and gastric cancers, involving the data obtained from studies of both cell lines as well as laboratorial animals. Also, the effects of flavonoids on the therapeutic responses of conventional cancer treatment modalities, i.e., different chemotherapeutic drugs and irradiation, are presented and analyzed. Moreover, the current epidemiological knowledge about the role of dietary intake of flavonoids on the risk of carcinogenesis in the upper digestive tract in populations with different dietary and lifestyle habits is described. By virtue of the high topicality of the subject but also the thoroughness of its discussion, this book could be interesting and attractive to basic scientists working in the field of plant chemicals, molecular cancer research or design and development of novel anticancer drugs; synthetic chemists in different pharmaceutical companies; health workers and nutritional counselors; medical doctors working with cancer patients; people suffering from any type of upper digestive tract tumors and their family members; and anyone who is interested in the natural tools for the fight against malignant neoplasms and whose purpose is to consciously prevent carcinogenesis within the upper gastrointestinal tract.