title: Vitamin E and cancer.
abstract: Perhaps not surprisingly, vitamin E which has been touted to be potentially beneficial for a variety of disorders, including cancer, heart disease, and even Alzheimer's disorder, based on its function as an antioxidant has failed to withstand the scrutiny of recent, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trials, including failure to provide science-based support for vitamin E as a potent anticancer agent. Although less studied, vitamin E forms other than RRR-alpha-tocopherol or synthetic all-rac-alpha-tocopherol show promise as anticancer agents in preclinical studies. This chapter will (1) review basic information about natural and synthetic vitamin E compounds as well as vitamin E analogues, (2) summarize the current status of human intervention trials, (3) review data from preclinical cell culture and animal model studies of vitamin E compounds and novel vitamin E-based analogues in regards to future potential for cancer treatment, and (4) summarize some of the insights that have been gained into the anticancer mechanisms of action of vitamin E-based compounds which are providing interesting insights into their potent proapoptotic effects, which include restoration of apoptotic signaling pathways and blockage of prosurvival signaling events.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nutrition, University of Texas at Austin, Texas 78712, USA.
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kline
authors.forename: Karla A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Lawson
authors.forename: Weiping
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Bob G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Sanders
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000737:chemistry; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D014810:Vitamin E