Affiliation:
1. Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo-Horizonte, Brazil
2. St. John of God – Fatebenefratelli Hospital, Benevento, Italy
3. Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria
Abstract
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the common types of cancer affecting humans. The treatment of CRC involves surgery and chemotherapy. CRC treatment using the conventional chemotherapeutics has a negative burden on the patient's health as a result of high toxicity, occurrence of side effects, and drug resistance. Therefore, there is a pressing need to discover more effective and efficient approaches and drugs for treating CRC. This chapter will shed more light on the conventional treatment of colorectal cancer. This chapter discusses the natural products that have anti-CRC effects such as the polyphenols (curcumin, resveratrol), irinotecan, Ganoderma lucidum, cannabinoids, flavonoids, and terpenes. Furthermore, this chapter also highlights the importance of combination chemotherapy (conventional therapy and natural products) in treating CRC. It is believed that this area of research could be a promising approach to minimize side effects and drug resistance linked to the conventional chemotherapy.