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Yeger et al. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2020;6:26 Journal of Cancer
DOI: 10.20517/2394-4722.2020.61 Metastasis and Treatment

Review Open Access

Perspective on dietary isothiocyanates in the
prevention, development and treatment of cancer

Herman Yeger , Reza Bayat Mokhtari 1,2
1
1 The Hospital for Sick Children, Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Toronto, ON M5G 0A4, Canada.
2 Department Biomedical & Molecular Sciences, Botterell Hall Rm 827, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada.
Correspondence to: Prof. Herman Yeger, Department of Paediatric Laboratory Medicine, Program in Developmental and Stem
Cell Biology, Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning, SickKids, 686 Bay St, Toronto, ON M5G 0A4, Canada.
E-mail: hermie@sickkids.ca
How to cite this article: Yeger H, Mokhtari RB. Perspective on dietary isothiocyanates in the prevention, development and
treatment of cancer. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2020;6:26. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-4722.2020.61
Received: 16 Jun 2020 First Decision: 10 Jul 2020 Revised: 16 Jul 2020 Accepted: 21 Jul 2020 Published: 7 Aug 2020

Academic Editor: Sanjay Gupta Copy Editor: Cai-Hong Wang Production Editor: Jing Yu

Abstract
Epidemiological evidence has highlighted the association of specific diets and a lower incidence of cancer.
Foremost, the Mediterranean diet provides high levels of polyphenolics and a high consumption of healthier
fats, e.g., as from olive oil. In the Mediterranean region the consumption of vegetables is elevated providing
a class of compounds, the isothiocyanates (ITCs) as found in the cabbage family. The ITCs have raised great
interest for their health benefits over the past few decades. Some of the key ITC compounds, sulforaphane,
phenethylisothiocyanate and benzyl isothiocyanate, have been studied in vitro and in vivo and the data support
their promise for cancer chemoprevention, as anti-tumor agents, and for chemoprotection of normal tissues and
organs. Along with other polyphenolic compounds in the diet, in general, they also possess key anti-inflammatory
properties thus satisfying the criteria for compounds that could intervene in cancer initiation and progression. In
this review we provide a larger overview of the advantages of including ITCs in the diet as food or as supplements
and speculate on what could constitute a valuable therapeutic strategy for improving and sustaining good health
and countering cancer disease in humans.

Keywords: Mediterranean diet, isothiocyanates, chemoprevention, chemoprotection, anti-tumor, hormesis,
mitohormesis, anti-inflammatory

© The Author(s) 2020. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long
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