|
Advertisement |
|
|
||
 |
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
 |
||||||
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol 26, No 14 (May 10), 2008: pp. 2417-a-2418 © 2008 American Society of Clinical Oncology. DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2008.16.3584
Chemoprevention of Head and Neck Cancers: Promising New Biochemical ProspectsCollege of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL To the Editor: I read with great interest the recent editorial on head and neck cancer chemoprevention by Khuri and Shin.1 Besides the agents mentioned by Khuri and Shin, three other agents that have been shown to effectively inhibit head and neck cancers and may play a major role in cancer chemoprevention in the near future are aspirin, vitamin E, and guggulsterone.
In a recent study, Jayaprakash et al2 have reported that the regular use of aspirin is associated with an almost 25% decrease in the risk for most head and neck cancers, especially oral cancers. Aspirin use over a longer duration was associated with a greater decline of risk in this study. Similarly, Benner et al3 have shown that oral vitamin E can be used effectively in the treatment of oral leukoplakia with response rates as high as 46%. In another recent study, another natural compound, guggulsterone, has been shown to have a potent inhibitory effect on head and neck cancers.4 Guggulsterone exerts its effects by the activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase and the subsequent increase in apoptosis. Similarly, another natural biochemical genistein has been shown to inhibit head and neck cancers by activation of the nuclear transcription factor, nuclear factor- A recent meta-analysis shows that a high vegetable intake decreases the risk for oral cancers by almost half.7 The promising data from the studies mentioned clearly indicates that naturally occurring biochemicals found in common fruits and vegetables may have a major role to play in decreasing the risk for head and neck cancer. Clearly, there is a rapid need for more large scale studies focusing on these naturally occurring compounds to ascertain these observations and hopefully confirm their role in cancer chemoprevention. AUTHOR'S DISCLOSURES OF POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST The author(s) indicated no potential conflicts of interest. REFERENCES
1. Khuri FR, Shin DM: Head and neck cancer chemoprevention gets a shot in the arm. J Clin Oncol 26:345-347, 2008 2. Jayaprakash V, Rigual NR, Moysich KB, et al: Chemoprevention of head and neck cancer with aspirin: A case-control study. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 132:1231-1236, 2006 3. Benner SE, Winn RJ, Lippman SM, et al: Regression of oral leukoplakia with alpha-tocopherol: A community clinical oncology program chemoprevention study. J Natl Cancer Inst 85:44-47, 1993 4. Shishodia S, Sethi G, Ahn KS, et al: Guggulsterone inhibits tumor cell proliferation, induces S-phase arrest, and promotes apoptosis through activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase, suppression of Akt pathway, and downregulation of antiapoptotic gene products. Biochem Pharmacol 74:118-130, 2007[CrossRef][Medline] 5. Sarkar FH, Li Y: Mechanisms of cancer chemoprevention by soy isoflavone genistein. Cancer Metastasis Rev 21:265-280, 2002[CrossRef][Medline] 6. Casto BC, Kresty LA, Kraly CL, et al: Chemoprevention of oral cancer by black raspberries. Anticancer Res 22:4005-4015, 2002[Medline] 7. Pavia M, Pileggi C, Nobile CG, et al: Association between fruit and vegetable consumption and oral cancer: A meta-analysis of observational studies. Am J Clin Nutr 83:1126-1134, 2006 Related Reply
Related Article
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
|
|
Copyright © 2008 by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Online ISSN: 1527-7755. Print ISSN: 0732-183X
|
B.
