Therapeutic potentials of plant‑based antioxidants on colorectal cancer: Challenges and perspectives (Review).

Colorectal cancer (CRC) represents a major malignancy within the digestive tract, with its incidence and mortality rates steadily increasing annually, posing a severe threat to human health. Despite the extensive clinical utilization of diverse chemotherapeutic agents, their propensity for deleterious side effects and the emergence of drug resistance can impede patient compliance, consequently culminating in chemotherapy failure. Consequently, the quest for novel therapeutic agents with high efficacy and minimal toxicity has become increasingly urgent. To address this critical clinical dilemma, there is an imperative need to develop effective and well‑tolerated anti‑CRC drugs. Plant‑based antioxidants (PBAs) are now understood to possess diverse biological activities, thereby offering significant advantages with respect to clinical anti‑CRC applications. Compared with synthetic chemical agents, they are ubiquitous in natural sources, possess high safety profiles and can act as detoxifying or sensitizing agents when combined with conventional therapies in CRC, such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Hence, the present review systematically reviewed current research on PBAs for CRC treatment from the perspective of bioactive compounds, with the aim of offering theoretical foundations and reference values for future studies and clinical applications of PBAs in CRC therapies.