红曲米是一种由红曲霉在大米上培养发酵而成的传统保健食品。其富含多种活性成分，如红曲色素、红曲多糖、洛伐他汀、γ-氨基丁酸和麦角甾醇等，使得红曲米具有多样的生物学功能。以往的研究发现：红曲米具有降脂、降压和抑菌等功效。近年来的研究发现红曲米及其主要活性成分具有潜在的抗癌效应，能够影响细胞凋亡、细胞周期、细胞侵袭以及逆转癌细胞耐药性。该研究系统总结了国内外研究现状，主要综述了红曲米及其主要活性成分发挥抗癌效应的研究进展，并对其相应分子机制进行了详细阐述归纳。红曲米作为一种具有重大市场价值的传统食品，深入研究其抗癌功效及其分子机理将有助于其产业价值的提升，并为将红曲米加工开发成具有化学预防癌症的功能性食品提供理论基础。

Red yeast rice is a kind of traditional health foods, which is made through fermenting rice with red yeast mold. It is rich in a variety of active ingredients, such as red yeast pigment, red yeast polysaccharides, lovastatin, γ-aminobutyric acid and ergosterol, which endows the rice with various biological functions. Previous studies have found that red yeast rice has lipid-lowering, antihypertensive and antibacterial effects. Recent studies revealed that red yeast rice and its main active ingredients potentially have anticancer effects, which can affect apoptosis, cell cycle and cell invasion as well as reverse drug resistance of cancer cells. In this paper, the status of domestic and international research, is systematically summarized, the research progress on the anti-cancer effects of red yeast rice and its main active ingredients is reviewed, and the corresponding molecular mechanisms are described and classfied in detail. As a traditional food with a high market value, in-depth studies of its anticancer effect and associated molecular mechanisms will help the improvement of its industrial value and provide a theoretical basis for the processing and development of red yeast rice into functional foods with chemopreventive effects against cancer.

湖南省科技创新平台项目（2019TP1029）；湖南省研究生科研创新项目（20183010；CX20210862）