Role of Phytosterols in Cancer Prevention and Treatment

Plant sterols or phytosterols have been shown to be effective in improving blood lipid profile and thereby protective against cardiovascular disease. In addition to their cardioprotective effects, phytosterols have gained more insight for their protective effect against various forms of cancer. Phytosterols have been reported to alleviate cancers of breast, prostate, lung, liver, stomach and ovary. Reductions in growth of various cancer cells including liver, prostate and breast by phytosterols treatment have been demonstrated. Although exact mechanisms of phytosterols for their anticancer effects are not very well delineated, there have been several mechanisms proposed such as inhibition of carcinogen production, cancer cell growth and multiplication, invasion and metastasis and induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Other mechanisms including reduction of angiogenesis, invasion and adhesion of cancer cells and production of reactive oxygen species have also been suggested. However, cancer therapy using phytosterol formulations have yet to be designed, largely due to the gap in the literature with regards to mode of action. Furthermore, most of the studies on anticancer effects of phytosterols were conducted in vitro and animal studies and need to be confirmed in humans.