Cancer is a complicated and ever-evolving disease that remains a significant global cause of disease and mortality. Its complexity, which is evident at the genetic and phenotypic levels, contributes to its diversity and resistance to treatment. Numerous scientific investigations on human and animal models demonstrate the potential of phytochemicals in cancer prevention. Coffee has been shown to possess potent anti-carcinogenic properties, and studies have documented the consumption of coffee as a beverage reduces the risk of cancer occurrence. The major secondary metabolites of coffee, named caffeine and chlorogenic acid, have been linked to anti-inflammatory and antineoplastic effects through various signaling. In light of this, this review article provides a comprehensive analysis based on studies in anticancer effects of coffee, chlorogenic acid, and caffeine published between 2010 and 2023, sourced from Scopus, Pubmed, and Google Scholar databases. We summarize recent advances and scientific evidence on the association of phytochemicals found in coffee with a special emphasis on their biological activities against cancer and their molecular mechanism deemed potential to be used as a novel therapeutic target for cancer prevention and therapy.

Purpose: This study aimed to challenge the anticancer potency of pentagamavunone-1 (PGV-1) and obtain a new compound (Chemoprevention-Curcumin Analog 1.1, CCA-1.1) withimproved chemical and pharmacological properties.Methods: CCA-1.1 was prepared by changing the ketone group of PGV-1 into a hydroxylgroup with NaBH4 as the reducing agent. The product was purified under preparative layerchromatography and confirmed with HPLC to show about 93% purity. It was tested for itssolubility, stability, and cytotoxic activities on several cancer cells. The structure of the productwas characterized using 1HNMR, 13C-NMR, FT-IR, and HR-mass spectroscopy.Results: Molecular docking analysis showed that CCA-1.1 performed similar or better interactionto NF-κB pathway-related signaling proteins (HER2, EGFR, IKK, ER-alpha, and ER-beta) andreactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolic enzymes (NQO1, NQO2, GSTP1, AKC1R1, andGLO1) compared with PGV-1, indicating that CCA-1.1 exhibits the same or better anticanceractivity than PGV-1. CCA-1.1 also showed better solubility and stability than PGV-1 in aqueoussolution at pH 1.0–7.4 under light exposure at room temperature. The cytotoxic activities ofCCA-1.1 against several (10) cancer cell lines revealed the same or better potency than PGV-1.Conclusion: In conclusion, CCA-1.1 performs better chemical and anticancer properties thanPGV-1 and shows promise as an anticancer agent with high selectivity.

Background: Two mangostin compounds, gamma-mangostin and alpha-mangostin, show anticancer properties through the inhibition of cell proliferation and cell migration. Metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells, including MDA-MB-231, highly express C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) to maintain reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cell migration. Objectives: This study was performed to analyze and compare different modes of action of γ-mangostin and α-mangostin as antimigratory effects targeted on CXCR4 in MDA-MB-231 as a model of TNBC cell. Methods: This study investigated the effect of γ-mangostin and α-mangostin using a series of assays, including Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay for cytotoxicity, wound healing assay for migration study, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) for gene expression analysis, and flow cytometry for ROS measurement, along with in silico study to observe the binding between the compound and CXCR4. Results: The findings revealed half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 25 and 20 μM for γ-mangostin and α-mangostin in MDA-MB 231 cells, respectively. Moreover, a concentration of 10 μM was used for the migration assay. Both γ-mangostin and α-mangostin significantly suppressed cell migration within 24 hours. The present gene expression studies revealed the downregulation of key migration-associated genes, namely Farp, CXCR4, and LPHN2, upon γ-mangostin treatment but not α-mangostin. Additionally, both γ-mangostin and α-mangostin increased cellular ROS generation, highlighting the same effect of γ-mangostin and α-mangostin ROS elevation to inhibit cancer cell migration. Molecular docking simulations further suggested a potential interaction between γ-mangostin and α-mangostin with CXCR4 in high affinity. Conclusions: These findings suggest that both γ-mangostin and α-mangostin inhibit breast cancer cell migration and induce cellular ROS levels in MDA-MB-231 cells; notably, γ-mangostin suppresses CXCR4 mRNA expression that might correlate to its activity to inhibit MDA-MB-231 cell migration.

Pentagamavunone-1 (PGV-1), an analog of curcumin, has been studied for its cytotoxic effects in 4T1, MCF7, MCF7/HER2, and T47D breast cancer cells. Its antiproliferative effect is partly mediated through G2/M arrest; however, its molecular mechanism during cell cycle progression remains unknown. In this study, we aimed to determine whether PGV-1 has any anticancer effects on highly aggressive breast cancer cells, with a focus on cell cycle regulatory activity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and their mediated effects on cancer cells. MDA-MB-231 (triple-negative) and HCC1954 (overexpressed HER2) immortalized human breast cancer cells were used in the study. PGV-1 exhibited cytotoxic activity with an irreversible antiproliferative impact on treated cells and had good selectivity when tested in fibroblast cells. Oral PGV-1 administration suppressed tumor growth in a cell-derived xenograft mouse model. PGV-1 induced the phosphorylation of Aurora A kinase and PLK1 in MDA-MB-231 cells, while PLK1 and cyclin B1 phosphorylation were enhanced in the PGV-1-treated HCC1954 cells during prometaphase arrest. Intracellular ROS production was substantially higher upon PGV-1 treatment following mitotic arrest, and this activity caused impairment of mitochondrial respiration, induced senescence, and subsequently triggered early-to-late apoptosis. Collectively, these results suggest that the molecular mechanism of PGV-1 involves the regulation of mitotic kinases to cause cell cycle arrest and the enhancement of ROS production to impair mitochondrial activity and induce cellular senescence. The therapeutic activities demonstrated by PGV-1 in this study show its potential as an appealing candidate for chemotherapy in breast cancer treatment.

Earlier findings reported the anticancer-mediated activities of curcumin-modified compounds Pentagamavunone-1 (PGV-1) and Chemoprevention Curcumin Analog 1.1 (CCA-1.1) with several mechanisms including cell cycle arrest, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and cell migration disruption. Our study aims to evaluate the antimigratory activity of PGV-1 and CCA-1.1 on aggressive breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231 and HCC1954 cells) and their effect on HER2 protein. The trypan blue exclusion method was conducted for the antiproliferative effect. The PGV-1 or CCA-1.1 effect on cell migration was determined by wound healing assay. Using gelatin zymography, we checked the secretion level of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP). We also evaluated the human epidermal growth receptor-2 (HER2) level after incubation with PGV-1 or CCA-1.1 in HCC1954 cells by western blot. Based on the antiproliferation assay, MDA-MB-231 and HCC1954 cells were sensitive to PGV-1 and CCA-1.1. MMP-2 was only observed in HCC1954 cells while MMP-9 was only observed in MDA-MB-231. Both PGV-1 and CCA-1.1 significantly suppressed MMP-9 activity in MDA-MB-231 cells. Moreover, PGV-1 inhibited HER2 protein levels in HCC1954 although it was not significant, whereas CCA-1.1 did not affect HER2 protein. This study strengthens the scientific evidence for PGV-1 and CCA-1.1 activities for future exploration as candidate chemotherapy with multitarget against breast cancer.Keywords: Curcumin analog, cell migration, MMP-9, HER2, breast cancer.