Antiproliferative Activity and Mechanisms of Action of Plant-derived Flavonoids on Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is one of the main global diseases with a high mortality rate that mainly affects the female population. Despite the important advances that have been made concerning the treatments for this disease, research on less invasive therapies that generate fewer side effects for patients continues to develop. Consequently, researchers have turned their attention to using natural compounds (such as flavonoids) involved in molecular processes implicated in this type of cancer and are studying how these processes can be exploited to develop possible chemotherapies. This review offers a general description of studies on the antiproliferative activity of flavonoids obtained from natural sources for breast cancer treatment and their mechanism of action related to their structural characteristics. Reports were retrieved from electronic databases, such as Web of Science and Scopus using the following keywords: breast cancer, antiproliferative, flavonoids, and structure-activity. Articles published between 2015-2022 related to the topics mentioned above were selected, focusing on the flavonoids apigenin, luteolin, quercetin, and naringenin, as they are the ones with the highest activity and relevance according to the literature found.

Automated summary

Breast cancer is a major global disease with a high mortality rate, primarily affecting females. Although significant progress has been made in its treatment, research on less invasive therapies with fewer side effects is ongoing. This review summarizes studies on the antiproliferative activity of flavonoids obtained from natural sources for breast cancer treatment and discusses their mechanism of action related to their structural characteristics.