Carotenoids in cancer chemoprevention and therapeutic interventions.
Carotenoid (CARs: beta-carotene BC and/or canthaxanthin CX) supplementation have been shown to be chemopreventive in animals, since 1980, against direct or indirect chemical carcinogenesis/photo-carcinogenesis of the skin, breast, stomach, salivary glands, colon-rectum, urinary bladder, and against transplanted tumors. This action could be either independent of or dependent on pro-vitamin A activity of BC. In vitro, both BC and CX proved to be antimutagenic and to have anti-malignant transformation properties in cell cultures. Preliminary interventions in humans with BC +/- CX prevented the onset of second primary tumors in lung, colon, urinary bladder, and head and neck. The powerful antioxidant properties of CARs, possibly associated with their retinoid potential, played a role in all the above observations, producing free-radical quenching and immunostimulation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Santamaria
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Camillo Golgi Institute of General Pathology, University of Pavia, Italy.
Bianchi-Santamaria
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A
D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000187:drug effects; D001941:Breast Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019207:beta Carotene
D019207:beta Carotene; D014801:Vitamin A; D002338:Carotenoids