The most effective way to deal with cancer would be to prevent development of the cancer. Cancer chemoprevention is the treatment to block initiation or promotion- progression phases. Cancer metastasis represents the most important cause of cancer death and anti-tumor agents that may inhibit this process have been pursued. Ras expression has been suggested as a marker for tumor aggressiveness of breast cancer, including the degrees of invasion and tumor recurrence. In this review article, we summarized several chemopreventive agents which inhibit invasive phenotype and/or induce apoptosis of H-ras-transformed MCF10A human breast epithelial cells. The molecular mechanism(s) underlying the cancer chemopreventive effects are also reviewed. A potential use of natural products including apicidin, Aster, curcumin and capsaicin for human breast cancer chemoprevention has been suggested.

Keywords: Apicidin, Aster, Curcumin, Capsaicin, H-ras, MCF10A cells, Invasion, Migration, MMP-2, Apoptosis