Introduction

This book presents innovative ideas for managing chronic illnesses as well as their supporting research methods. The knowledge in this book can educate and influence the practice of health care professionals, informing them of how certain foods may benefit their patients’ health. This issue showcases a portion of the wealth of contributions made in the field, and lays the foundation for a field of science that is continuing to expand, changing modern society’s relationship with medicine. This cornerstone guide is written by intentionally recognized experts in the field of functional, medical, and bioactive foods. With more than 500 scientific references, this book provides scientists, medical doctors, nurses, professors, instructors teaching functional food courses, nutritionists, dietitians, food technologists, students majoring in food science related fields, and public health professionals with a comprehensive and modern examination of functional foods.

In this textbook, Bioactive Compounds and Cancer, we have compiled review articles that discuss functional food components specifically for managing cancer, including isoflavones, bioactive functional foods, bioactive compounds, biomarkers, phyto-chemotherapeutic agents, nanoparticles, and flavonolignans. Our editorial committee has included edited articles, figures, pictures, end-of-chapter summaries, test questions for each chapter, and a glossary of key words to enhance the learning experience for our readers. A PowerPoint series will be made available for readers who wish to follow an organized course based on this textbook.

This textbook will provide our readers with insights on cancer, science, and nutrition. It begins with a discussion on isoflavones and how they may have positive effect on cancers such as prostate and breast cancer, and then moves on to discuss the effects of bioactive components of functional foods on cancer. Additional discussions delve into how different cancers are diagnosed with biomarkers, the potential impacts of nanoparticles in regards to phyto-chemotherapy, and how flavonolignans can be used to manage cancer.

Book Chapters

Chapter 1: "Bioactive Functional Foods for Cancer"

Chapter 2: "The Effects of Bioactive Compounds on Biomarkers of Cancer"

Chapter 3: "Effects of Different Bioactive Compounds on Cancer"

Chapter 4: "Bioactivity of Nano-sized Nutraceuticals Against Cancer"

Chapter 5: "Potential of Phyto-Chemotherapeutic Agents and its Nanoparticles"

Chapter 6: "Phytocannabinoids and Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review Complemented with Cheminformatics"

Chapter 7: "Isoflavones and Its Preventive Roles on Breast and Prostate Cancer"

Chapter 8: "Flavonolignans to Prevent Cancer: A Role for Silymarin and Derivatives"

Chapter 9: "Functional Food for the Prevention and Management of Cancer"

Chapter 10: "The Rational Drug Design to Treat Cancers: Bioactive Compound Aziridine Quinone"

**In order to get the most out of this edition, we recommend reading each chapter completely and to also review the summary paragraphs that conclude each chapter. These summaries lay out the main take-aways from the chapter and help to put the chapter as a whole into perspective.