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Targeting cancer stem‐like cells using dietary‐derived agents – Where are we now?
Author(s) -
Khan Sameena,
Karmokar Ankur,
Howells Lynne,
Thomas Anne L.,
Bayliss Richard,
Gescher Andreas,
Brown Karen
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
molecular nutrition and food research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.495
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1613-4133
pISSN - 1613-4125
DOI - 10.1002/mnfr.201500887
Subject(s) - cancer , cancer stem cell , medicine , clinical trial , stem cell , toxicity , population , cancer cell , in vivo , chemoradiotherapy , chemotherapy , oncology , cancer research , pharmacology , bioinformatics , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , environmental health , genetics
Diet has been linked to an overwhelming proportion of cancers. Current chemotherapy and targeted therapies are limited by toxicity and the development of resistance against these treatments results in cancer recurrence or progression. In vitro evidence indicates that a number of dietary‐derived agents have activity against a highly tumorigenic, chemoradiotherapy resistant population of cells within a tumour. This population is associated with cancer recurrence and is therefore clinically significant. Targeting this subpopulation, termed cancer stem‐like cells with dietary‐derived agents provides a potentially low toxicity strategy to enhance current treatment regimens. In addition, dietary‐derived compounds also provide a novel approach to cancer prevention strategies. This review focusses on selected diet‐derived agents that have been shown to specifically target cancer stem‐like cells using in vivo models, or in clinical trials. Furthermore, the potential limitations of these studies are discussed, and areas of research that need to be addressed to allow successful translation of dietary‐derived agents to the clinical arena are highlighted.