Review on Colon Cancer: Prevention and Treatment by Potential Natural Products

ABSTRACTColon cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide and remains a leadingcause of cancer-related mortality. Its development is a multistep process driven by geneticmutations, epigenetic alterations, chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and lifestyle-relatedrisk factors. Although conventional therapeutic approaches such as surgery, chemotherapy,and radiotherapy have improved survival outcomes, their effectiveness is often limited bysevere adverse effects, drug resistance, and tumor recurrence. Consequently, there is growingscientific interest in the use of natural products as safer, multi-targeted strategies for coloncancer prevention and treatment.Natural products derived from plants, marine organisms, and microorganisms represent a vastreservoir of bioactive compounds, including polyphenols, alkaloids, terpenoids, carotenoids,polysaccharides, vitamins, and fatty acids. These compounds exert anticancer effects bymodulating key molecular signalling pathways such as Wnt/β-catenin, NF-κB, PI3K/Akt,MAPK, and apoptotic cascades. They inhibit tumor initiation, suppress cancer cellproliferation, induce apoptosis, prevent angiogenesis, and enhance sensitivity to conventionalchemotherapeutic agents.This review comprehensively summarizes the epidemiology, molecular pathogenesis, andstaging of colon cancer, followed by an in-depth discussion on the role of natural products inchemoprevention and therapy. Special emphasis is placed on compounds such as curcumin,resveratrol, astaxanthin, oleuropein, omega-3 fatty acids, berberine, quercetin, oridonin,acetylapoaranotin, medicinal polysaccharides, and the clinically successful derivativeirinotecan. In addition, recent advances in nanotechnology-based delivery systems aimed atimproving the bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy of natural products are discussed.Overall, natural products offer promising avenues for safer and more effective colon cancermanagement.