Chrysin: A Promising Anticancer Agent its Current Trends and Future Perspectives

Abstract

Cancer is one of the major public health concerns in the United States and in other developed countries, affecting million deaths approximately every year worldwide. Cancer incidences show inconsistency between emerging and developed nations. Epidemiologic findings intensely propose that incidence of cancer are predisposed by environmental factors including diet, which is essentially unavoidable. Strategies to prevent cancer comprise overlapping approaches viz. Dietary cancer prevention or chemoprevention. Naturally occurring constituents or pharmacological agents prevent or reverse the initiation phase of carcinogenesis or arrest at progression of carcinogenesis through chemoprevention. Cancer prevention through diet may be possible by the intake of fruits and vegetables. Significant consideration has been given in finding plant-derived dietary agents, which can be developed as promising chemo preventives. One such compound is chrysin (5,7-dihydroxylflavone). It has been shown to possess significant anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-carcinogenic properties. Recently significant progress has been made in studying the biological effects of chrysin at cellular and molecular levels. This review scrutinizes the anticancer effects of chrysin, its considerable potential for development as a cancer chemo preventive agent.