Since early times, various plants have been used as remedies for treating different kinds of diseases and lesions with satisfying results. The phenolic compounds are secondary metabolites from medicinal plants which include a wide category of compounds such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, tannins, stilbenes, curcuminoids, xanthones, coumarins, lignans, etc. Between these, lignans are considered important in cancer prevention and treatment, besides other beneficial health effects, e.g. antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, antimutagenic, and anti-estrogenic effects. This review summarizes the most recent literature and the most important results concerning plant lignans and their derivatives in cancer prevention and treatment, both in vitro and in vivo assessments. The mechanistic aspects will be also highlighted.

自早期以来，各种植物已被用作治疗各种疾病和损伤的药物，并获得令人满意的结果。酚类化合物是药用植物的次生代谢产物，其中包括多种化合物，例如酚酸，类黄酮，丹宁酸，对苯二甲酸酯，姜黄素类，黄嘌呤，香豆素，木脂素等。在这两者之间，木脂素被认为对预防和治疗癌症很重要，除了其他有益健康的作用，例如抗氧化剂，抗癌作用，抗诱变作用和抗雌激素作用。这篇综述总结了有关植物木脂素及其衍生物在癌症预防和治疗中的最新文献和最重要的结果，包括体外和体内评估。机械方面也将突出显示。