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Journal of Chinese Pharmaceutical Sciences ›› 2016, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (4): 235-249.DOI: 10.5246/jcps.2016.04.028

• Cancer prevention by traditional Chinese medicine and plant phytochemicals column • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Targeting obesity-related inflammation in skin cancer: molecular and epigenetic insights for cancer chemoprevention by dietary phytochemicals

Ximena Paredes-Gonzalez1, Francisco Fuentes2, Yaoping Lu3, Ah Ng Tony Kong1*   

  1. 1. Department of Pharmaceutics, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 160 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
    2. Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 306-22, Santiago, Chile
    3. Department of Chemical Biology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 160 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
  • Received:2015-12-31 Revised:2016-01-15 Online:2016-04-21 Published:2016-02-26
  • Contact: Tel.: +848-455-6369, Fax: +732-455-3134, E-mail: KongT@pharmacy.rutgers.edu
  • Supported by:

    Institutional funds; R01-CA118947 and R01-CA152826 from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), R01AT007065 from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicines (NCCAM) and the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS).

Abstract:

Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is one of the most common cancers in the US, although the role of obesity in skin cancer remains unclear. In vivo studies have consistently demonstrated that obese mice challenged with UVB radiation show increased skin tumorigenesis in comparison with leaner control mice. Growing evidence suggests that enhanced inflammation, oxidative stress and impaired apoptosis may play important roles in the development of skin cancer. Interventions such as voluntary exercise and the surgical removal of parametrial fat have been demonstrated to be effective in reducing adipose tissue that may influence the development of skin cancer; however, these interventions are not achievable in all obese patients. Therefore, the use of dietary natural phytochemicals that may modify and reverse the deregulated molecular and epigenetic events related to obesity and cancer development might represent a potential therapeutic modality due to their potential efficacy and low toxicity. In this review, we aim to provide the molecular and epigenetic basis of the NMSC-obesity relationship and to highlight the potential anti-cancer chemopreventive benefits of dietary phytochemicals such as sulforaphane and epigallocatechin-3-gallate.

Key words: Chemoprevention, Epigenetics, Obesity, Non-melanoma skin cancer

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