4-Vinylphenol is found in the medicinal herb Hedyotis diffusa Willd, wild rice and is also the metabolite of p-coumaric and ferulic acid by lactic acid bacteria in wine. 4-Vinylphenol induces apoptosis and inhibits blood vessels formation and suppresses invasive breast tumor growth in vivo[1].

4-Vinylphenol (12.5-200 µg/mL) significantly reduces cell viability in parental MDA-MB-231 cells, and the IC50 value is 109 µg/mL[1]. 4-Vinylphenol (0.15 or 0.3 µg/mL; 3 days) reduces sphere?formation and vimentin expression on CSCs in breast cancer[1]. 4-Vinylphenol (50, 100 µg/mL; 72 hours) significantly suppresses cell proliferation in CSC-enriched MDA-MB-231 cells. 4-Vinylphenol significantly reduces ALDH1A1 expression by 50% in CSC-enriched MDA-MB-231 cells[1]. 4-Vinylphenol (100 µg/mL) significantly increases the expressions of caspase 3, likely sensitizing CSC-enriched MDAMB-231 cells to apoptosis[1].

[1]. Leung HW, et al. The natural agent 4-vinylphenol targets metastasis and stemness features in breast cancer stem-like cells. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 2018 Aug;82(2):185-197.