Functional Mechanisms of Green Tea Polyphenols and Their Molecular Targets in Prevention of Multiple Cancers

Cancer is portrayed as a group of disease characterized by alteration in the normal regulation of cell growth by the successive acquisition of genetic, somatic, and epigenetic alteration. Synthetic drugs are single targets while natural products are multi-targeted to prevent cancer. NF-κB is persistently active in a number of disease states, including cancer, and therefore has a critical role in cancer development and progression. It also provides a mechanistic link between inflammation and cancer and is a major controlling factor resistant to apoptosis in both pre-neoplastic and malignant cells. Importantly, NF-kB and the signaling pathways that mediate its activation have become attractive targets for the development of new chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic approaches. Natural antioxidants have been shown to possess chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic potential via targeting NF-κB signaling, among which tea polyphenols have been studied extensively. In this chapter, the authors summarize the regulation of NF-κB pathway by green tea polyphenols in different cancer types.