Pterostilbene and cancer chemoprevention

This chapter discusses pterostilbene’s chemopreventive effects against various cancers. Pterostilbene is a naturally occurring analog of resveratrol with many health benefits. These health benefits are associated with its antioxidant activity, which is attributed to its unique structure. Recently, pterostilbene has been reported to induce cytotoxicity in cancer cells through various mechanisms. Traditional chemotherapy for advanced cancers is toxic, is not easily tolerated by patients, and shows a low long-term survival rate. Interestingly, pterostilbene can induce death in both sensitive and chemoresistant cancer cells by inducing cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, autophagy, and senescence through modulation of various signaling pathways. Thus, pterostilbene may be effective in the management of cancers. This chapter elucidates the chemopreventive effects of pterostilbene from the viewpoint of its pharmacokinetic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer effects. Pterostilbene functions as an efficient natural product in cancer prevention and treatment by modulating multiple targets in cancer cells.