TY - JOUR AB - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of mortality among men and women. Chemo‑resistance, adverse effects and disease recurrence are major challenges in the development of effective cancer therapeutics. Substantial literature on this subject highlights that populations consuming diets rich in fibers, fruits and vegetables have a significantly reduced incidence rate of CRC. This chemo‑preventive effect is primarily associated with the presence of phytochemicals in the dietary components. Plant‑derived chemical agents act as a prominent source of novel compounds for drug discovery. Phytochemicals have been the focus of an increasing number of studies due to their ability to modulate carcinogenic processes through the alteration of multiple cancer cell survival pathways. Despite promising results from experimental studies, only a limited number of phytochemicals have entered into clinical trials. The purpose of the current review is to compile previously published pre‑clinical and clinical evidence of phytochemicals in cases of CRC. A PubMed, Google Scholar and Science Direct search was performed for relevant articles published between 2008‑2018 using the following key terms: ‘Phytochemicals with colorectal cancers’, ‘apoptosis’, ‘cell cycle’, ‘reactive oxygen species’ and ‘clinical anticancer activities’. The present review may aid in identifying the most investigated phytochemicals in CRC cells, and due to the limited number of studies that make it from the laboratory bench to clinical trial stage, may provide a novel foundation for future research. AD - Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah 21423, Saudi Arabia Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, Toyama 930‑0194, Japan Graduate School of Medicine, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, Henan 454000, P.R. China AU - Ahmed,Kanwal AU - Zaidi,Syed ,Faisal AU - Cui,Zheng‑Guo AU - Zhou,Dejun AU - Saeed,Sheikh ,Abdul AU - Inadera,Hidekuni DA - 2019/07/01 DO - 10.3892/ol.2019.10349 EP - 498 IS - 1 JO - Oncol Lett KW - colorectal cancer apoptosis phytochemicals reactive oxygen species cell cycle arrest PY - 2019 SN - 1792-1074 1792-1082 SP - 487 ST - Potential proapoptotic phytochemical agents for the treatment and prevention of colorectal cancer (Review) T2 - Oncology Letters TI - Potential proapoptotic phytochemical agents for the treatment and prevention of colorectal cancer (Review) UR - https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2019.10349 VL - 18 ER -