Current Cancer Drug Targets - Volume 7, Issue 5, 2007

Malignant cells are characterized by alterations in multiple signaling pathways that promote proliferation, inhibit apoptosis, promote angiogenesis in the case of solid tumors, and enable cancer cells to invade and migrate through tissues. A variety of foods and their bioactive dietary constituents appear to have merit in reducing cancer risk and modifying tumor behavior. All of the major signaling pathways, which are deregulated i Read More

Prevention is one of the most important and promising strategies to control cancer. Many dietary bioactive compounds, mostly phytochemicals, have been found to decrease the risk of carcinogenesis. Modulating the metabolism and disposition pathways of carcinogens represents one of the major mechanisms by which dietary compounds prevent carcinogenesis. In the present review, the specific molecular targets of dietary Read More

At its most fundamental, cancer is a genetic disease in the sense that the primary events in tumorigenesis involve damage to the genome. The genome is subject to damage continuously from both exogenous agents and endogenous processes but this becomes functionally important only if the damage is not detected and resolved in a timely and effective manner. In mammals there are 5 DNA repair pathways, encoded by a Read More

Specific bioactive dietary components, such as the steroid receptor superfamily ligands vitamins A and D, have been studied extensively as potential cancer preventive and therapeutic agents due to their ability to regulate key processes in a variety of cell types which are dysregulated in neoplastic transformation namely, proliferation and differentiation. Alteration of one or more factors that regulate cell cycle control has Read More

Apoptosis, a form of programmed cell death, is a pivotal defense against cancer and is essential in maintaining tissue homeostasis. Many diseases including cancer have been associated with aberrantly regulated apoptotic cell death, thus elucidation of events associated with both apoptosis and carcinogenesis provides the opportunity for dietary intervention with the plethora of bioactive components in the diet. Apoptosis occurs Read More

A causal association between inflammation and cancer has long been suspected. Multiple lines of compelling evidence from clinical, epidemiologic and laboratory studies support that inflammation plays a critical role in the promotion and progression stages of carcinogenesis. Recent progress in our understanding of the molecular biology of cancer highlights the intracellular signal transduction network, including that involved in Read More

Dietary bioactive food components that interact with the immune response have considerable potential to reduce the risk of cancer. Reduction of chronic inflammation or its downstream consequences may represent a key mechanism that can be reduced through targeting signal transduction or through antioxidant effects. Major classes of macronutrients provide numerous examples, including amino acids such as glutamine or Read More

Findings with experimental rodent models reveal that exposures to dietary factors during the in utero and pubertal periods when the mammary gland is undergoing extensive modeling and re-modeling, alter susceptibility to develop mammary tumors. Similar observations have been made in humans: childhood exposure to genistein in soy or to some other bioactive food components reduces later breast cancer risk, although t Read More

Human solid tumors remain latent in the absence of angiogenesis since it is a critical process for their further growth and progression. Experimental evidence suggests that targeting tumor angiogenesis may be a novel strategy to check tumor growth and metastases. Recent studies suggest that several bioactive food components can suppress tumor growth by inhibiting angiogenesis. This suppression occurs because Read More

The prevalence of obesity, an established epidemiologic risk factor for many cancers, has risen steadily for the past several decades in the U.S. Particularly alarming are the increasing rates of obesity among children, portending continuing increases in the rates of obesity and obesity-related cancers for many years to come. Unfortunately, the mechanisms underlying the association between obesity and cancer are not well un Read More

Kit a type III receptor tyrosine kinase, along with its ligand the stem cell factor, play a critical role in normal cell growth, differentiation, development and survival. Ligand independent activation of kit (dysregulated kit function) has been found to be an important component of oncogenesis in a large number of neoplastic disorders such as systemic mastocytosis, gastro intestinal stromal tumors, germ cell tumor Read More

The experimental cytotoxic drug cyclopentenyl cytosine (CPEC) is an analogue of cytidine. Besides its antiviral effect, its potential use in the treatment of cancer has become an important area of research. CPEC is activated by intracellular phosphorylation ultimately forming its metabolite CPEC-TP. CPEC-TP is a non competitive inhibitor of cytidine-5'-triphosphate synthetase (CTPsynthetase), an important enzyme in the for Read More