Cancer, Oxidative Stress, and Metastasis. Review uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are highly reactive molecules that arise from a number of cellular sources, including oxidative metabolism in mitochondria. At low levels they can be advantageous to cells, activating signaling pathways that promote proliferation or survival. At higher levels, ROS can damage or kill cells by oxidizing proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. It was hypothesized that antioxidants might benefit high-risk patients by reducing the rate of ROS-induced mutations and delaying cancer initiation. However, dietary supplementation with antioxidants has generally proven ineffective or detrimental in clinical trials. High ROS levels limit cancer cell survival during certain windows of cancer initiation and progression. During these periods, dietary supplementation with antioxidants may promote cancer cell survival and cancer progression. This raises the possibility that rather than treating cancer patients with antioxidants, they should be treated with pro-oxidants that exacerbate oxidative stress or block metabolic adaptations that confer oxidative stress resistance.

publication date

  • January 12, 2017

Research

keywords

  • Antioxidants
  • Clinical Trials as Topic
  • Neoplasms
  • Oxidative Stress
  • Reactive Oxygen Species

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85021042620

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1101/sqb.2016.81.030791

PubMed ID

  • 28082378

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 81