Natural Products in Cancer

Dear Colleagues,

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the world, especially in industrialised countries. Cancer development is a consequence of genetic, environmental and dietary factors. A condition of excessive food intake triggers inflammatory processes that can evolve into the development of diseases which, in turn, facilitate the onset of cancer such as colorectal, esophageal, pancreas and stomach whereas in the female the onset of breast, endometrial and ovarian cancer is more frequent. Overnutrition and lifestyle cause an alteration of metabolism due to an established inflammatory status. The immune system continuously exposed to endogenous and exogenous stimuli is responsible for the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines by both innate and adaptive immunity cells. These cytokines such as TNF-a, IL-1b and IFN-g lead to the activation of the NF-kb pathway, thus amplifying the inflammatory response. In addition, an excessive production of nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species is also observed.

In particular, the excessive intake of junk food and low physical activity facilitates the onset of cancer. However, malnutrition is also responsible for tumorigenesis and should be investigated. Finally, the presence of microrganisms and viruses also contributes to cancer development.

Natural products such as dietary fibre, polyhenols and polyunsaturated fatty acids may be useful in preventing the onset of cancer. In this special issue the mechanisms of action due to the intake of natural products and their potential beneficial effects on cancer prevention will be investigated.

Therefore, original article or review articles regarding the signalling pathways, molecular mechanisms and the involvement of immune system in prevention of cancer through intake of natural products are welcome.

Dr. Thea Magrone
Dr. Luigi Santacroce
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• natural products
• colorectal cancer
• gastric cancer
• microorganisms
• signalling and molecular mechanisms
• immune system
• cytokines
• overnutrition
• lifestyle
• gut microbiota