Department of Hygiene, Public Health College, Jining Medical University, Jining, Shandong 272067, P.R. China.
Oncol Rep. 2022 Sep;48(3). doi: 10.3892/or.2022.8368. Epub 2022 Jul 20.
Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is an aggressive and lethal malignancy having a dismal prognosis. Phytochemicals are bioactive components obtained from plants that have been proven useful to treat numerous diseases. Phytochemicals are also an important source of novel anticancer drugs and an important area of research due to the numerous available candidates that can potentially treat cancers. This review discusses naturally occurring phytochemicals and their derivatives that show promising anticancer effects in anaplastic thyroid cancer. Anticancer effects include cell growth inhibition, induction of apoptosis, promoting cell cycle arrest, suppressing angiogenesis, modulating autophagy, and increasing the production of reactive oxygen species. Phytochemicals are not only prospective candidates in the therapy of anaplastic thyroid cancer but also exhibit potential as adjuvants to improve the anticancer effects of other drugs. Although some phytochemicals have excellent anticancer properties, drug resistance observed during the use of resveratrol and artemisinin in different anaplastic thyroid cancer cell lines is still a problem. Anaplastic thyroid cancer cells have several biological, clinical, and drug‑resistance features that differ from differentiated thyroid cancer cells. Phytochemicals such as resveratrol and quercetin exhibit different biological effects in anaplastic thyroid cancer and differentiated thyroid cancer. Tumor cells depend on increased aerobic glycolysis by mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation to provide energy for their rapid growth, invasiveness, and drug resistance. Phytochemicals can alter signaling cascades, modulate the metabolic properties of cancer cells, and influence the mitochondrial membrane potential of anaplastic thyroid cancer cells. These findings enrich our knowledge of the anticancer effects of phytochemicals and highlight alternative therapies to prevent drug resistance in anaplastic thyroid cancer.
间变性甲状腺癌（ATC）是一种侵袭性和致命性的恶性肿瘤，预后极差。植物化学物质是从植物中提取的具有生物活性的成分，已被证明可用于治疗多种疾病。由于有许多潜在的候选药物可以治疗癌症，因此植物化学物质也是新型抗癌药物的重要来源和研究领域。本文讨论了天然存在的植物化学物质及其衍生物在间变性甲状腺癌中的抗肿瘤作用。抗癌作用包括细胞生长抑制、诱导细胞凋亡、促进细胞周期停滞、抑制血管生成、调节自噬以及增加活性氧的产生。植物化学物质不仅是间变性甲状腺癌治疗的有前途的候选药物，而且还具有作为佐剂的潜力，可提高其他药物的抗癌作用。尽管一些植物化学物质具有优异的抗癌特性，但在不同的间变性甲状腺癌细胞系中使用白藜芦醇和青蒿素时观察到的耐药性仍然是一个问题。间变性甲状腺癌细胞具有不同于分化型甲状腺癌细胞的生物学、临床和耐药特征。白藜芦醇和槲皮素等植物化学物质在间变性甲状腺癌和分化型甲状腺癌中的生物学效应不同。肿瘤细胞依赖于增加的有氧糖酵解，通过线粒体氧化磷酸化为其快速生长、侵袭和耐药性提供能量。植物化学物质可以改变信号级联，调节癌细胞的代谢特性，并影响间变性甲状腺癌细胞的线粒体膜电位。这些发现丰富了我们对植物化学物质抗癌作用的认识，并强调了预防间变性甲状腺癌耐药的替代疗法。
