Review Article Open Access Cancer-specific Therapeutic Potential of Resveratrol: Metabolic Approach against Hallmarks of Cancer

Cancer hallmarks include evading apoptosis, limitless replicative potential, sustained angiogenesis, tissue invasion and metastasis. Cancer cells undergo metabolic reprogramming and inevitably take advantage of glycolysis to meet the increased metabolic demand: rapid energy generation and macromolecular synthesis. Resveratrol, a polyphenolic phytoalexin, is known to exhibit pleiotropic anti-cancer effects most of which are linked to metabolic reprogramming in cancer cells. This review summarizes various anti-cancer effects of resveratrol in the context of cancer hallmarks in relation to metabolic reprogramming. Tumor cells rely on glycolysis rather than oxidative phosphorylation for ATP production even in the presence of oxygen, this is called the Warburg effect. Since the proposal of metabolic shift from aerobic respiration to aerobic glycolysis in neoplastic cells [1], supporting evidence has been accumulated in many types of cancers [2]. The Warburg effect in the context of concerte