From the Table to the Bedside: Can Food-Derived Sulforaphane be used as a Novel Agent to Treat Leukemia?

The extensive use of the same chemotherapeutics over several decades has resulted in a growing incidence of chemoresistant cancer cells and secondary malignancies. Therefore, there is an increasing need for new drugs to treat high-risk cancer patients with a higher selectivity for cancer cells and lower toxicity to normal cells. Sulforaphane is released upon hydrolysis of glucoraphanin, a constituent of cruciferous vegetables, by myrosinases that are present in the plant or intestinal microbes. Despite a large number of studies describing the chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic properties of sulforaphane in solid tumors, there is little information on the properties of sulforaphane in hematological malignancies. In this review, we discuss the anti-carcinogenic properties of sulforaphane, the need of higher doses than dietary intake, and the challenges related to testing sulforaphane as an adjunctive agent in combination with the current standard of care for frontline blood cancer.