Antioxidative stress actions of cocoa in colonic cancer: Revisited

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the world and is one of the major causes of cancer-related mortality in the world. Cancer is defined as a multistage process and divided into the following stages: initiation, promotion, and progression. In this disease, oxidative stress is involved in a large array of carcinogenic pathways associated with the proliferation of initiated cells and cellular malignancy. Therefore, the suppression of oxidative stress by natural antioxidant compounds has gained interest as an effective approach in colorectal cancer prevention. Accordingly, cocoa and its phenolic components have demonstrated to exert antioxidant activity and to be able to interfere with multiple carcinogenic signaling pathways. In this chapter, we reviewed the different in vitro and in vivo studies that have identified potential targets and mechanisms whereby cocoa and their flavonoid compounds could interfere with colonic cancer cells. In addition, recent evidence from human studies is also illustrated.