[Effects of wine polyphenols on cancer prevention]

Cancer has become in the recent decades one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The search for effective prevention has become a priority for the basic and clinical science. Wine polyphenols have been proposed as alternative therapy for induction and on maintaining remission of cancer.

To review current scientific evidence of cancer and the efficacy of dietary supplement therapy (especially wine polyphenols).

Extensive search of scientific publications was performed in specialized electronic databases: NBCI, Elsevier, Scielo, Scirus and Science Direct.

Results from in vitro and laboratory animals experiments demonstrate that wine polyphenols controls the cell apoptosis of different type of cancers through out the increase of reactive oxygen species, and decrease of cell growth. Different studies have shown that regular and moderate wine consumption (one or two glasses for day) is associated with decreased incidence of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, and certain cancers, such as colon, breast, lung, or prostate. However, more scientific evidences are needed to strength the effect of resveratrol in controlling cancer.

A better knowledge and understanding of the wine polyphenol role in cancer disease patients is possible with the current published results. The wine polyphenols plays a significant role as antioxidant and prooxidant in cancer, although more extensive studies are required to determine the clinical significance in humans.