From vitamin A to retinoids in experimental and clinical oncology: achievements, failures, and outlook.

Abstract

The problems of prevention and therapy of cancer are far from being solved. Regarding therapy, it is beyond doubt that surgery and radiotherapy cure a certain percentage of cancer patients. Cancer chemotherapy with the conventional cytostatic agents is a further means by which oncologists can help patients. Immunotherapy, including the newest methods of treatment with thymosin, and particularly interferon, may bring further progress. In the field of prevention of cancer mortality, early detection of precancerous and cancerous lesions and elimination of carcinogenic agents are up to now the most successful means. The continuing high mortality of cancer, even in the most developed countries, underlines the still unsatisfactory medical methods at our disposal. New approaches to the cancer problem are badly needed. It is the purpose of this conference to acquaint us with the basic research work done in the field of retinoids. The retinoids (vitamin A and analogs) represent a fairly new development in the cancer field, offering a new approach differing markedly in their more physiological mode of action from the hitherto existing approaches in prevention and therapy of cancer.