**7. Conclusions**

proteolytic digestion of the ECM (extracellular matrix) and cell migration through the basement membranes to reach the circulatory system. Through the immunoblotting results, a large number of proteins have been demonstrated to be suppressed by AIMs. A couple of these proteins are involved in cancer proliferation (COX-2, cyclin D1), migration and invasion (MMP-2, MMP-9), as mentioned before, anti-apoptosis (XIAP), adhesion, and angiogenesis (VEGF). However, they were not able to identify in which signaling pathway is AIMs mainly involved. This study identi-

Several studies have demonstrated that flavonoids are one of the candidates for prevention of the adverse effects of UV radiation due to their UV absorbing property, and antioxidant properties. In this context, a published study revealed that grape seed proanthocyanidins (GSP) inhibits cell growth, induces G1-phase arrest, promotes apoptosis in human epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells through alterations in Cdki-Cdk-cyclin cascade, and caspase-3 activation via loss of mitochondrial membrane potential [81]. Many other studies have also proved the antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects of anthocyanins on melanoma or others skin diseases [82–84]. Our latest published revealed that anthocyanins may inhibit melanoma cell proliferation, increase the level of oxidative stress, and diminished mitochondrial mem-

Cyanidin-3-O-β-glucopyranoside (C3G) is well known to be found in a lot of anthocyaninrich fruits, like berries. To study its effect on cancer, two cells lines were used, LnCap and DU145. These cell lines were chosen because DU145 is a tumor cell line androgen-independent and LnCap is androgen-dependent. Androgen-dependent prostate cancer is characterized by the absence of the androgen receptor due to promoter methylation. In this case, the treatment is based on hormone elimination, yet other approaches are needed if the amount of hormones does not affect the development of cancer [79]. C3G causes a decrease in cell viability in both cell lines, and apoptosis is also induced, DU145 being more responsive in this aspect. The positive effect of treatment is demonstrated by the activation of caspase 3 and a significant increase in expression of p21 protein, evidence that cells undergo apoptosis [80]. Another study focuses on proteins that indicate the presence of apoptosis such as p53 and Bax. P53, or "the guardian of the genome" is a suppressor tumor protein that initiates apoptosis in degraded DNA cells, and Bax is a pro-apoptotic protein of the Bcl-2

An bilberry extract (Antho 50) was used to determine its effect on Jurkat cells. The main interest of this study is the result of Antho 50 on certain proteins, polycomb group (PcG), which are epigenetic regulators. These proteins reduce the expression of suppressor tumor genes, promoting the survival of tumor cells [81]. The aim is to see if the extract is able to inhibit these PcG proteins. The extract was able to downregulate the PcG and related proteins

fies that AIMs might have anticancer effects on human lung cancer [80].

84 Phytochemicals - Source of Antioxidants and Role in Disease Prevention

**6.4. Skin cancer**

brane potential [84].

**6.5. Prostate cancer**

family [81].

**6.6. Leukemia**

Interests in anthocyanins have increased substantially during the past two decades. In this review, we discussed at what level anthocyanins act when talking about anticancer effects. *In vitro*, we saw that anthocyanins affect: the proliferation of the cancer cells, inhibiting of the ability of cancer cells to divide uncontrollably, the induction of apoptosis, the process of angiogenesis where tumors form new blood vessels, and the cancer cells invasion through healthy tissue. Also, a few of the *in vivo* studies demonstrate that dietary anthocyanins inhibit the growth of different types of tumors, angiogenesis, and show apoptotic effect against the cancer cells. It remains to be determined whether the anticancer activity of anthocyanins is due to anthocyanins or their metabolites.
