PhytoCAT: A Comprehensive Data Repository of PhytoChemicals for Affordable Breast Cancer Therapeutics

Breast cancer is a global health challenge with a high mortality rate of 30% of total cases in a year. Breast cancer presents in 4 main types, namely, TNBC, HER2+, luminal A, and Luminal B. Current treatments, though not without side effects, incur substantial cost, and are rendered ineffective by rising drug resistance. Phytochemicals are being investigated for their beneficial effects on breast cancer. Systematically collecting, organizing, and analyzing this data from available literature could benefit the development of more potent chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic approaches with reduced side effects.

To overcome the challenges posed by diverse naming practices, we adopted a sentiment (subjective) based text-mining approach to systematically extract and analyze data on antibreast cancer phytochemicals from biomedical literature. This method is based on anchor and associated terms to capture authors' sentiments regarding the therapeutic potential of these compounds. Subsequently, comprehensive and objective information was extracted and curated for each phytochemical, including target genes, pathways, study type, IC50 values, PMIDs, plant sources, and geographical availability.

PhytoCAT (PhytoChemical Affordable Therapeutics for Breast Cancer) is a comprehensive database of phytochemicals, plant extracts, and essential oils, enriched with links to phytogeographic data and chemical structures. PhytoCAT includes data on 28 essential oils, 470 plant extracts, and 1,649 phytochemical compounds. These compounds were classified into several chemical groups, including alkaloids (167), coumarins (43), flavonoids (290), lignans (47), quinones (43), saponins (27), sesquiterpenoid lactones (40), terpenoids (282), triterpenoid saponins (28), and xanthones (22) groups. Additionally, 505 phytochemicals belong to other subclasses such as esters, glucosides, phenanthrenes, and phenylpropanoids. Further, information on their mechanisms of action is also provided.

Phytochemicals have gained significant attention in recent years because of their potential health benefits, particularly in the prevention and treatment of various diseases, including cancer. Compounds such as curcumin, resveratrol, and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) are examples of phytochemicals that have shown promise in preclinical studies. PhytoCAT offers a centralized and searchable database enriched with biological, chemical, and pharmacological details. Its structured presentation allows researchers to identify promising compounds and study patterns in chemical class-specific activity.

PhytoCAT provides an evidence-based platform for researchers and clinicians to explore the potential of phytochemicals in breast cancer management. Although PhytoCAT has an advanced search engine, it lacks analytical tools, which we envisage integrating in the future.