Association of Lutein with Cancer: A Systematic Review of the Lutein Effects on Cellular Processes Involved in Cancer Progression.

Lutein belongs to the carotenoid family of xanthophylls, which have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties. This study aimed to comprehensively review the interactions between lutein and critical cellular processes that influence cancer progression. A search of electronic databases, including PubMed, Science Direct, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Google, was conducted for the keywords "cancer or tumor or neoplasm or carcinoma" and "lutein" in the titles or abstracts of published research. A total of 47 studies were reviewed, and it was shown that lutein reduced estrogen receptors (2 out of 4 studies), DNA damage (4 out of 8 studies), cancer cell survival (1 out of 1 studies), growth (7 out of 7 studies), and proliferation (19 out of 19 studies) as well as cancer cell invasion, migration, metastasis, and adhesion (2 out of 2 studies), but induced apoptosis (17 out of 17 studies) and cell differentiation (1 out of 1 studies). According to this review, lutein may be effective in suppressing cellular processes involved in cancer progression through a variety of mechanisms.