European Journal of Medicinal Plants

Cervical cancer is most familiar neoplasm among women worldwide. Surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy are common treatments, however high stage tumors have frequently poor prognosis. HPV 16 and 18 are major etiological factors for cervical cancer. Likewise, epigenetics is the study of inherited changes and modulated gene expression without alteration in DNA sequences. In mammals epigenetic modifications include DNA methylation, histone modifications and miRNA.

Phytochemicals are mainly contained in fruits, seeds, and vegetables as well as in foods supplements. Numerous dietary compounds exhibit potent anti-tumor activities through the reversion of epigenetic alterations associated to oncogenes activation and inactivation of tumor suppressor genes in cervical cancer cell lines SiHa and HeLa, demethylation of the tumour suppressor genes such as RARβ2, MGMT, RASSF1A, DAPK etc. Reversal of hypermethylated genes as a tumor-suppressor gene, is related to inhibition of cell proliferation, development and differentiation. The impact of phytochemicals lead to the reversal of hypermethylation which may help to cure cervical cancer. This study concludes the effect of phytochemicals on genetic and epigenetic modifications and reveals how these modifications help to prevent various types of cancers and improve health outcomes.