Chemoprevention

Let’s take a journey back in time! We are always advancing in our thoughts and the ways we do things. What better way to get a glimpse into the past by creating a time capsule? Between 1763 and 1775 tension between the American colonies and Great Britain eventually erupted into war. I have included five artifacts to better understand the historical events of this time period. They include a map of the proclamation line of 1763, wampum belt, a teapot, cartoon about the stamp act, and Tricorn hat.

Fruits, vegetables, and grains in general are anti-cancer champions. Virtually all of them are rich in antioxidants and other substances that block cancer at many stages of its development. The plant foods listed below are a few that appear to be great allies in our fight against cancer. Green tea inhibits tumors of the esophagus, breast, skin, colon and liver in rodents. Soybeans are rich in genistein, a phytochemical that appears to prevent small tumors from growing. Genistein apparently interferes with cancer at many points, from controlling cell proliferation to inhibiting angiogenesis, the building of blood vessels that supply nutrients to tumors. Studies have shown it particularly to protect against breast cancer. Broccoli and the cabbage family are full of phytochemicals that fight cancer. One of them, sulforaphane, protects lab animals from breast cancer. It appears to help cancer-fighting enzymes force carcinogens out of cells. And another, phenmethyl isothiocyanate, apparently disarms carcinogens and prevents DNA from damage. Tomatoes are associated with lower rates of several cancers, most particularly lung and prostate cancer. Flavonoids, phytochemicals that give color to fruits and vegetables, may block the ability of cancer-causing hormones to attach to cells. Garlic and onions contain phytochemicals that activate enzymes that neutralize carcinogens.

In this generation of American society, there is a great emphasis on living a healthy lifestyle from factors such as diet and exercise. Yet today many of the products that Americans use and consume are full of cancer causing agents. In a society where there is a vast amount of research conducted and strict regulations, many daily used products are like a time bomb ready to explode. One-third of all people will develop cancer in our lifetime and one-fourth will die from this disease. Many cancers are due to preventable revelations to industrialized carcinogens and toxins in the food people eat, and household products and cosmetics people use daily.

EPA established a reference risk level for carcinogens of 1*10-4; it means that the risk associated with a health problem is the 1 in 10,000. It is assumed that a person exposed to the minimum carcinogenic dose of a chemical can develop cancer; therefore, we can calculate the minimum carcinogenic dose from equation (3) by using the reference risk level of 1*10-4 and cancer slope factor of each chemical; cancer slope factor defines the relationship between a specific chemical and the likelihood of developing a tumor after exposure to such a chemical and is used to predict cancer at a specific dose. To calculate the minimum carcinogenic dose, weight-of-evidence classifications and an average adult body weight of 70 kg are used. Weight-of-evidence classifications show the likelihood of a chemical to be a carcinogen. While the EPA uses letters A (carcinogenic to humans), B1 (likely to be carcinogenic; limited human evidence), B2 (likely to be carcinogenic; little or no human evidence), C (possibly carcinogenic; little animal evidence), D (not classifiable), and E (evidence of no carcinogenic effects), Forman (1993) quantified weight-of-evidence and assigned likelihood values to each letter: A = 1.00, B1 = 0.84, B2 = 0.67, C-B2 = 0.51, and C = 0.34. The following equation can be used to calculate hazard dose of a

In the United States, starting from the first breast cancer case in 1930s to today, a woman's lifetime risk of breast cancer increases to one eighth (Gray et al.). Continuously increasing breast cancer rate has caused a lot of concerns among not only ordinary people but also scientists. For decades, scientists have been working on the causes of breast cancer in order to find the corresponding methods of treatment. However, only about 25% of the breast cancer cases got explained (Brody et al.); till today, heredity, lifetime exposure to environmental estrogen (the female sex hormone), and the dietary fat are the only major known causes (“Cover Story: Breast Cancer and Environment”). For the 75% unexplained breast cancers cases,

These phytonutrients protect against cancer through a variety of mechanisms including the inhibition of cancer-promoting enzymes, induction of programmed cancer cell death and the protection of DNA and white blood cells against free radical damage.

Every year, 1.2 million people are diagnosed with cancer and more than 500,000 people die from the disease. According to the National Cancer Institute, over 30% of these deaths can be attributed to diet. This means that the average person can greatly lower his risk of getting cancer simply by changing his diet. There is, of course, no guarantee against cancer, but the lifestyle choices that we make now can have a huge impact on our lives in the future. (http://www.aicr.org/expert1.htm)

Cancer is caused by external and internal factors, such as tobacco, infectious organisms ,inherited genetic mutations ,immune conditions and hormones(4) . Many chemical material plays important roles in inducing cancers like diethylnitrosamine(DEN) which is present in some food products such as soybean, fish, cheese ,alcoholic beverages and cured meat and it is effective genotoxic carcinogen and used as an initiating

According to the Office of National Statistics, in 2013, 29% of deaths in the UK were cancer related, making it the leading broad cause of death in the population. In the United States, 1 in 4 deaths are cancer related, and it is estimated that in a lifetime, there is 44% chance of contracting an invasive cancer if you are male, and a 38% chance if you are female  (Siegel et al. 2014). So, although our knowledge and education into different cancer mutagens such as UV radiation, chemical carcinogens and viruses  (Alberts et al. 2002), as well as cancer physiology and treatments may have improved, leading to a decrease in cancer related mortalities, there are still huge advances to be had in the field  (CRUK 2013).

It can be defined as the intake of foreign agents in order to restrain induction, to prevent or slow the progression of cancer or reversal of carcinogenesis at a premalignant stage (Jaganathan et al.) These experiments, both studying in vivo and in vitro effects of apple polyphenols, have showed their benefits as a strong chemopreventive food. When reviewing in vivo studies, the chemopreventive properties in the apple diet could be seen as a visible reduction of inflammation, epithelial lesions in the colon and increasing of apoptosis in tumor cells (Pietro Femia, et al.) Cancer preventive strategies in vitro include mechanisms to trap and remove carcinogens from the organism, which would minimize their contact with DNA and reduce their genotoxic and promutagenic action, and also preventing the activation of procarcinogens to ultimate carcinogens, which could enhance their detoxification through modulation of xenobiotic metabolism (Gerhauser et al.) Protein expression was also noted in in vitro studies showing that polyphenols increase expression of both the p53 protein and GSTT2 protein, which suppresses tumors and reduces genotoxic stress,

Research in cancer occurs in a wide range of scientific fields. The major categories of research are: – laboratory; – epidemiological; – clinical; – psychosocial and behavioural; – health systems and health policies. Most laboratory research is currently conducted in industrialized countries. It focuses on the elucidation of the biological mechanisms underlying cancer. Recent investigations of genetic and molecular/biological processes have produced dramatic and very promising results. Despite this, the causes underlying some of the most common cancer types are not yet well understood. Epidemiology helps to identify environmental or human behavioral factors associated with cancer, even if the underlying mechanism is not clear, thus enabling

Cancer is a big problem that causes millions of deaths every year. According to the Center for Disease Control, about eight million people die from cancer each year. Cancer is the broad term used to describe a wide range of tumors which are caused by mutations during the copying of DNA. Usually, cells are able to detect this and put the cell into a permanent G0 nondividing phase, or cause the cell to kill itself through the process of apoptosis. However, if cancer is not detected, it will grow uncontrollably. Common places for cancer to grow are in the lungs, the prostate in males, and the breasts in females. This can be very harmful as it can impair organ function. When cancer is localized, it is relatively easy to treat it with chemotherapy, which is chemicals that target fast-growing cells and kill them, and radiation, which eliminates these cells by exposing them to radiation of very arrow wavelengths. However, once cancer cells spread and reach the bloodstream, they can metastasize and spread to other areas of the body, including the brain. Most cancers left untreated will cause death. However, immunologists are testing numerous ways to treat cancers that were once considered untreatable.

Cancer is an important global health issue which affects millions of people annually and burdens national health systems. Despite modest reductions in the incidence of certain cancer types, overall the prevalence of cancer is increasing worldwide (1). It has been estimated that approximately 14.1 million people were diagnosed with cancer, in 2012 (2). The increase in cancer incidence is attributed to various causes such as the increase in population age as well as daily life habits which include obesity, poor diet, smoking and alcohol consumption (1).

For the treatment of many diseases, particularly cancer, substantial attention is presently focused on the use of drugs without side effects and to study the underlying mechanisms of their actions. Precisely, the action of endogenous enzymatic antioxidants capable of eliminating the oxidants and free radicals accountable for cancer initiation and progression, have been extensively debated [27]. Molecular uncovering of the antioxidant physiognomies of different anticancer drugs in addition to food and environmental substantces have been implemented [28]. Cellular antioxidantive enzymes have been inspected for their role in inhibition of diseases such as cancer, coronary heart disease and also altitude sickness [29]. The antioxidant

Dietary antioxidants, both natural and synthetic have been recent research topics for cancer. They have been utilized to see the prevention of cancer, use during cancer treatment, and long-term side effects and/or outcomes. Antioxidants work to neutralize free radicals that are produced with the body. When these free radicals, or Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) are found in high quantities, they can be very harmful to the body. It has been found that certain dietary antioxidants, such as Selenium, Curcumin, EGCG, and Resveratrol have been used in studies of cervical cancer. These patients yielded positive results in regards to limiting side effects as well as cancer treatment outcomes. Synthetically made dietary antioxidants are not are effective in regards to human cancer prevention or treatment. It has been found that these substances may cause adverse health effects in humans or have no significant positive outcomes. It is important when utilizing these antioxidant supplements to not engage in any negative health behaviors, like smoking, in order to decrease the risk to having adverse side effects to the antioxidants. If a patient smokes and takes these supplements, tumor metastasis could occur. It was also found that it is important to take the correct amount of these supplements to reduce the risk of cancelling out chemotherapy treatment. During chemotherapy, ROS are created to kill cancer cells and with too many antioxidant properties, the chemotherapy will not