Potential applications of polyphenols on main ncRNAs regulations as novel therapeutic strategy for cancer

Abstract In the recent years, plant polyphenols have gained significant attention in oncotherapy. Accumulating evidence indicates that polyphenols have potential antitumor properties for multiple types of cancer. But their regulatory mechanisms are still elusive. Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) were identified involving in regulating tumorigenesis and tumor progression. Recent evidence has suggested that a number of ncRNAs, including main small ncRNAs (microRNA, miRNA) and long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), play crucial roles concerning the anticancer effects of polyphenols. Indeed, targeting the miRNAs or lncRNAs by polyphenols will be a novel and promising strategy in anticancer chemotherapy. Herein, we displayed the effects of plant polyphenols in different cancers, highlighted the double role of main ncRNAs as oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes involved in different cancer developments, and critically reviewed the potential applications of polyphenols on main ncRNAs regulations involved in oncogenic and tumor suppressor ncRNAs, which implied that polyphenols regulating ncRNAs to exert antitumor effects may be a new strategy for tumor treatment.