Polyphenols in Cancer Therapy: Recent Advances, Mechanistic Pathways, and Therapeutic Insights

Polyphenols are naturally occurring compounds characterized by multiple hydroxyl groups attached to aromatic rings. They are broadly classified into four major groups: flavonoids, phenolic acids, lignans, and stilbenes. They act through a number of multiple signalling pathways, including MAPK, PI3K/ Akt, NF-κB, and STAT3 pathways, which induce apoptosis and programmed cancer cell death, which is frequently linked to the development of cancer. Additionally, polyphenols have synergistic effects with chemotherapeutic medications, which makes them attractive options for individual and combination therapy. This review includes studies published between 2019 and 2025 on polyphenols with anti-cancer potential in both in vitro and in vivo analysis. This review integrates recent evidence with a mechanism-based mapping of polyphenol classes to specific anticancer signaling pathways, offering an updated and clinically relevant perspective rarely captured in earlier reviews.