Oxidants, Antioxidants and the Current Incurability of Metastatic Cancers

Overview

Journal Open Biol

Specialties Biology
Cell Biology
Molecular Biology

Date 2013 Jan 11

PMID 23303309

Citations 137

Authors

Jim Watson

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The vast majority of all agents used to directly kill cancer cells (ionizing radiation, most chemotherapeutic agents and some targeted therapies) work through either directly or indirectly generating reactive oxygen species that block key steps in the cell cycle. As mesenchymal cancers evolve from their epithelial cell progenitors, they almost inevitably possess much-heightened amounts of antioxidants that effectively block otherwise highly effective oxidant therapies. Also key to better understanding is why and how the anti-diabetic drug metformin (the world's most prescribed pharmaceutical product) preferentially kills oxidant-deficient mesenchymal p53(- -) cells. A much faster timetable should be adopted towards developing more new drugs effective against p53(- -) cancers.

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