Modern ideas about the effect of exogenous antioxidants on the growth of malignant tumors

Abstract

This review analyzes the literature on the effects of certain drugs with antioxidant properties on the risk of developing malignant neoplasias, as well as on their growth and metastasis. Antioxidants are able to protect not only normal cells from the alterative effect of free radicals, but also tumor cells, thereby stimulating their survival and growth. There are data showing that in cells of certain malignant tumors, concentrations of endogenous antioxidant proteins are increasing. The synthesis of these proteins is determined by the cellular signaling pathway KEAP1/NRF2/ARE, it was revealed that oncogenes are involved in the regulation of this signaling pathway. The p53 protein, which activates apoptosis in diseased cells, can be inactivated by antioxidants, which in turn can stimulate the survival and growth of malignant tumor cells. Currently, there is a sufficient amount of information about the effect on tumor growth of certain drugs of various pharmacological groups with antioxidant properties, such as the widely used mucolytic N-acetylcysteine, antidiabetic drugs inhibitors of DPP4 (saxagliptin, sitagliptin), alpha lipoic acid used in the treatment of neuropathies of various origins, as well as vitamins A and E. development of malignant neoplasias in at-risk patients (smokers, patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes mellitus ). As well as they can complicate the course of existing cancers.