Tocotrienols: potential anti-cancer agent

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Tocotrienols: potential anti-cancer agent Puvaneswari Meganathan1, 2* and Ju Yen Fu2 1 University of Malaya, Malaysia 2 Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Malaysia Background Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally. The increasing cost of treatment and adverse effects often seen with conventional therapies have shifted the attention towards a multidisciplinary approach which includes the use of nutraceuticals as an alternative. Curcumin, resveratrol and tocotrienols are among the natural compounds with anti-cancer properties that have been studied in line with the concept “from bench to bedside”. Among these nutraceuticals, tocotrienols being a member of vitamin E family has been studied in depth in the last 3 decades. However, alpha-tocopherol which is a lesser potent isoform, is often mistaken as a general term for Vitamin E, thus making tocotrienols as the unsung heroes in anti-cancer research despite their beneficial biological properties. This poster is aimed to provide the overview of the anti-cancer effects of tocotrienols based on evidence from in vitro, in vivo and clinical trials. Methods Following numerous pre-clinical studies, two clinical trials involving cancer patients were conducted. The first pilot study was conducted in 240 women with early breast cancer in Kuala Lumpur General Hospital and the second study was carried out in 25 presurgical patients with pancreatic ductal neoplasia in H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, USA. Results Based on the pre-clinical studies, the anti-cancer activity of tocotrienols have been attributed to their anti-proliferative, anti-angiogenic, pro-apoptotic and immune enhancing effects. In addition, new self-emulsified formulations have improved the bioavailability of tocotrienols in humans that has been a debated issue in the past. Conclusion Despite emerging new studies showing evidence that circulating plasma tocotrienol levels are sufficient to evoke therapeutic response, more clinical studies are warranted to convince the scientific community, clinicians and healthcare authorities on the potential role of tocotrienols as an anti-cancer agent. Acknowledgements Malaysian Palm Oil Board and University of Malaya Keywords: bioavailability, Tocotrienols, Vitamin E, Cancer, Nutraceuticals Conference: International Conference on Drug Discovery and Translational Medicine 2018 (ICDDTM '18) “Seizing Opportunities and Addressing Challenges of Precision Medicine”, Putrajaya, Malaysia, 3 Dec - 5 Feb, 2019. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Cancer Citation: Meganathan P and Fu J (2019). Tocotrienols: potential anti-cancer agent. Front. Pharmacol. Conference Abstract: International Conference on Drug Discovery and Translational Medicine 2018 (ICDDTM '18) “Seizing Opportunities and Addressing Challenges of Precision Medicine”. doi: 10.3389/conf.fphar.2018.63.00024 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 12 Oct 2018; Published Online: 17 Jan 2019. * Correspondence: Ms. Puvaneswari Meganathan, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, mpuvaneswari@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Puvaneswari Meganathan Ju Yen Fu Google Puvaneswari Meganathan Ju Yen Fu Google Scholar Puvaneswari Meganathan Ju Yen Fu PubMed Puvaneswari Meganathan Ju Yen Fu Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.