Abstract
This review was written on data collected from, review articles, cross-sectional studies, randomized control trials, open-label studies, critical reviews, Cochrane data base system reviews, meta-analysis, population based trials, different phase-I and phase-II trials reported in literature between 1993 to 2014. Web sites and other online resources of Medline, NCBI, Pub med, Medscape resource centers, American college of surgeons were used to extract the data. The debate about the role of antioxidant therapy in disease or cancer prevention has long-loomed.
Oxidative damage induced by free radicals has been implicated in most inflammatory and degenerative diseases. Scientific research has reported that the antioxidants may have a role in carcinogenesis, while antioxidant-containing fruits, vegetables may protect against some of these diseases while the role of supplements containing antioxidants in the prevention of chronic diseases remains unproven. This review provides basic information about antioxidants and summarizes different studies reported in literature about the role antioxidants in disease or cancer prevention.

Key words: Free radicals, anti-oxidants, cell damage, carcinogenesis