Abstract
Though cancer therapeutics can successfully eradicate cancerous cells, the effectiveness of these medications is mostly restricted to several deleterious side effects. Therefore, to alleviate these side effects, antioxidant supplementation is often warranted, reducing reactive species levels and mitigating persistent oxidative damage. Thus, it can impede the growth of cancer cells while protecting the normal cells simultaneously. Moreover, antioxidant supplementation alone or in combination with chemotherapeutics hinders further tumor development, prevents chemoresistance by improving the response to chemotherapy drugs, and enhances cancer patients’ quality of life by alleviating side effects. Preclinical and clinical studies have been revealed the efficacy of using phytochemical and dietary antioxidants from different sources in treating chemo and radiation therapy-induced toxicities and enhancing treatment effectiveness. In this context, algae, both micro and macro, can be considered as alternative natural sources of antioxidants. Algae possess antioxidants from diverse groups, which can be exploited in the pharmaceutical industry. Despite having nutritional benefits, investigation and utilization of algal antioxidants are still in their infancy. This review article summarizes the prospective anticancer effect of twenty-three antioxidants from microalgae and their potential mechanism of action in cancer cells, as well as usage in cancer therapy. In addition, antioxidants from seaweeds, especially from edible species, are outlined, as well.
Highlights
Oxygen is essential to aerobic life conditions and represents the main driving force for the maintenance of cell metabolism and viability
The reactive oxygen species (ROS) level reaches a toxic threshold, and it manages to overcome the antioxidant system of the cell, escapes to elimination and remain in the cell. (Raza et al, 2017)
These ROS give rise to negative oxidative stress that engenders some drastic changes in cellular function and metabolism through altering cellular signaling pathways, initiating genomic instability, or activating immunosuppression, which leads to carcinogenesis (Morry et al, 2017)
Summary
Oxygen is essential to aerobic life conditions and represents the main driving force for the maintenance of cell metabolism and viability. Antioxidant phytochemicals found in these algae have been claimed to exhibit chemo-preventive role in normal cells by suppressing radiation or chemotherapy-induced oxidative stress via activation of the antioxidant defense system in cells, prevention of ROS mediated genomic instability, and inhibition aberrant cell proliferation, metastasis, and angiogenesis. On top of these roles, in combination with chemotherapeutic agents, antioxidants can act as therapeutic agents. Radiation induces an increase of free radicals which damage DNA and leads to cell death This elevated ROS can affect the cellular antioxidant status as well (Mut-Salud et al, 2015; Ko and Formenti, 2019). Vitamin C is commonly found in Spirulina spp., Chlorella
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