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Focal adhesion plaques (FAPs) play an important role in the communication between cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM) and in cells' migration. FAPs are macromolecular complexes made by different proteins which also interact with matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Because of these fundamental properties, FAPs and MMPs are also involved in cancer cells' invasion and in the metastatic cascade. The most important proteins involved in FAP formation and activity are (i) integrins, (ii) a complex of intracellular proteins and (iii) cytoskeleton proteins. The latter, together with MMPs, are involved in the formation of filopodia and invadopodia needed for cell movement and ECM degradation. Due to their key role in cancer cell migration and invasion, MMPs and components of FAPs are often upregulated in cancer and are thus potential targets for cancer therapy. Polyphenols, a large group of organic compounds found in plant-based food and beverages, are reported to have many beneficial healthy effects, including anticancer and anti-inflammatory effects. In this review, we discuss the growing evidence which demonstrates that polyphenols can interact with the different components of FAPs and MMPs, inhibit various pathways like PI3K/Akt, lower focal adhesion kinase (FAK) phosphorylation and decrease cancer cells' invasiveness, leading to an overall antitumoral effect. Finally, here we highlight that polyphenols could hold potential as adjunctive therapies to conventional cancer treatments due to their ability to target key mechanisms involved in cancer progression.

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers are the most frequent neoplasm, responsible for half of all cancer-related deaths. Metastasis is the leading cause of death from GI cancer; thus, studying the processes that regulate cancer cell migration is of paramount importance for the development of new therapeutic strategies. In this review, we summarize the mechanisms adopted by cancer cells to promote cell migration and the subsequent metastasis formation by highlighting the key role that tumor microenvironment components play in deregulating cellular pathways involved in these processes. We, therefore, provide an overview of the role of different microRNAs in promoting tumor metastasis and their role as potential biomarkers for the prognosis, monitoring, and diagnosis of GI cancer patients. Finally, we relate the possible use of nutraceuticals as a new strategy for targeting numerous microRNAs and different pathways involved in GI tumor invasiveness.