New US Patent Issued

A new U.S. patent related to radiotherapy and chemotherapy has just been issued to us. 

Title: Small Molecules and Methods of Reducing Injuries Caused by Radiation or Chemicals

Patent No.: 11,236,056

Date of patent: February 1, 2022

If you are interested in learning more, please visit the US Patent and Trademark Office at 

https://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=%22shaw,+jiajiu%22&OS=%22shaw,+jiajiu%22&RS=%22shaw,+jiajiu%22

It is very much appreciated that you spend your time reading my blog. In addition to sharing the technical/non-technical info about cancer, I am still doing research on improving methods of treating cancer. The issuance of this patent is just another small step forward. There is still a long way to go in order to continue the development of this agent.

Again, thank you very much for your attention.  

Radiotherapy and Its Side Effects: Chapter 1 - Introduction

PART II

Chapter 1

Introduction (cont'd)

Indeed, most of the therapeutic effect (DNA damage in the fast-growing cancer cells) by radiation is resulted from the DNA damage in cancer cells. Unfortunately, some normal cells can also be damaged by radiation because they are also fast-growing. These fast growing normal cells include bone marrow cells, hair follicle cells,  intestinal cells, and mucosal cells.

 Fortunately, there is a very important cellular function, DNA repair, by which a cell identifies and corrects damage to the DNA molecules. In fact, DNA repair process is constantly active as it responds to the continued damage in the DNA structure.

 Because cancer cells are not completely differentiated, their DNA repair capabilities tend to be less complete than those of normal cells. Therefore, cancer cells tend to be more susceptible to radiation damage as compared to normal cells. On the other hand, cancer cells can still rely on residual DNA repair capabilities to survive damage induced by radiotherapy or chemotherapy; this is one of the reasons cancer is not easy to treat.

In addition to radiation-induced DNA damage to normal cells, there are additional undesirable biological effects on the body, including immunological responses (such as abnormal levels of some cytokines including TNF-a, TGF-β, IL-12, and PGE2). These side effects will be discussed in the later section.

Indeed, the goal of radiotherapy is to damage as many cancer cells as possible, while limiting the damage to nearby healthy tissues/organs as much as possible. Nevertheless, it is almost impossible to have zero damage on normal cells. That is why the treatment plan is to focus the radiation to tumor cells. Let’s take a closer look at the side effects induced by radiotherapy in the following chapter.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2020

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book, "SIDE EFFECTS OF CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIOTHERAPY", prepared by Dr. Jiajiu Shaw, Dr. Frederick Valeriote, and Dr. Ben Chen. 

Radiotherapy and Its Side Effects: Chapter 1 - Introduction

PART II

Chapter 1

Introduction

Radiotherapy is also referred to as radiation therapy.  Radiotherapy deals with the treatment of cancer and it should not be confused with radiology, which deals with the study and application of radiation as a diagnostic tool.

Radiotherapy is a method of treating cancer patients by using ionizing radiation, which consists of either subatomic particles or electromagnetic waves that are energetic enough to knock off electrons from atoms or molecules to ionize them. Ionizing radiation comes from two sources shown below:

(1) Radiation is emitted by radioactive substances including cobalt, cesium, radium, uranium, radon, and plutonium;

(2) Radiation is produced by medical devices such as an x-ray machine.

Examples of ionizing particles include a particles, b particles (electrons), protons, and neutrons; examples of electromagnetic waves include x-ray, gamma ray, and ultraviolet (UV).

      Radiotherapy can be used to treat almost every type of solid tumor locally, including cancers of the breast, brain, lung, liver, cervix, pancreas, prostate, skin, stomach, and uterus. It can also be used to treat leukemia (cancer of blood-forming cells) and lymphoma (cancer of the lymphatic system, which is an important part of the immune system). In some cases, patients may receive a total body irradiation (TBI) for certain cancer, such as acute leukemia, as a pivotal part of bone marrow transplantation.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2020

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book, "SIDE EFFECTS OF CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIOTHERAPY", prepared by Dr. Jiajiu Shaw, Dr. Frederick Valeriote, and Dr. Ben Chen. 

Chemotherapy and Its Side Effects: Chapter 2 - Mitotic ihibitors (Tubule inhibitors)(Cont'd)

C.1. Paclitaxel (Sold as Taxol®)

Paclitaxel (Fig. 1.9) was isolated from the bark of the Pacific yew, Taxus brevifolia, by Monroe Wall and Mansukh Wani in 1967.  It was co-developed by NCI and Bristol-Myers Squibb. The drug product was approved as Taxol® by the FDA in 1992. Since its approval, Taxol has been used to treat patients with ovarian, lung, and breast cancer for a number of years. 

Fig. 1.9   Structure of paclitaxel

Paclitaxel works by hyper-stabilizing microtubules, major components of the dynamic cellular skeleton (cytoskeleton), to interfere with the normal breakdown of microtubules in the M phase of cell cycle (mitosis). In eukaryotic cells (cells with a nucleus), the cell cycle can be divided in two brief periods: interphase and the mitosis. During the interphase (I), the cell grows, accumulating nutrients and duplicates its DNA. During the mitosis phase (M), the cell splits itself into two distinct daughter cells. As a result of paclitaxel treatment, which hyper-stabilizes microtubules and hampers the mitosis, cancer cells are not able to replicate.

Similar to all other anticancer drugs, paclitaxel has a number of side effects. Serious side effects include unusual bleeding, skin rash, change in bowel habits, fever, chills, cough, difficulty swallowing, dizziness, shortness of breath, as well as severe exhaustion.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2019

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book, "SIDE EFFECTS OF CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIOTHERAPY", prepared by Dr. Jiajiu Shaw, Dr. Frederick Valeriote, and Dr. Ben Chen. 

Chemotherapy and Its Side Effects: Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Introduction

     Mutation is not uncommon in our daily lives. Most mutated cells either keep their normal cellular functions or undergo a programmed cell death (apoptosis) and die at some point in time. In addition, many mutated cells are recognized and rapidly removed by the body’s immune system. Only a very small portion of mutated cells will evolve further and become cancerous cells with uncontrollable proliferation; this behavior is different from that of normal cells. For adult, most normal cells are well differentiated except for certain types of cells, such as epithelial cells and bone marrow hematopoietic progenitor cells, which are capable of continuous proliferation; unlike cancerous cells, the growth of normal cells is highly regulated and controlled.

Cancer is a group of various diseases in that some cells are mutated in certain ways so that they grow and divide continuously. Currently, there are more than 200 known cancers that afflict humans.

For the treatment of cancer, there are generally three conventional strategies: surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. In this book, we will focus on chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and their side effects.

Chemotherapy is a systemic treatment of cancer patients with one or more anticancer drugs (chemical agents) to kill cancer cells and/or slow down their growth. The name “chemotherapy” comes from chemical agents being used as a therapy for treating cancer. Chemotherapy plays a critical role in cancer treatment; it is estimated that more than half of all cancer patients receive chemotherapy.

Depending on the dosage form, cancer drugs may be administered through several different routes, including intravenous injection/infusion, oral (mouth) delivery, or a slow release dosage form embedded in a tissue by implantation. A chemotherapy regimen (a treatment plan including the dosing and schedule) usually includes the administration of at least one drug to fight cancer at a predetermined dose according to a suitable schedule, usually daily, weekly, or every several weeks. Due to the different characteristics of individual cancer drugs, the chemotherapy regimen for each drug may be different. Because cancer treatment is a delicate process, it is important to know that staying on the chemotherapy regimen gives a patient the optimal chance for a successful result.

Many times, additional supplementary drugs are used simultaneously in a chemotherapy regimen in order to achieve a better outcome to either increase the anticancer potency or reduce the side effects of chemotherapy; these drugs are often called adjuvant medications. Adjuvant drugs that are used to reduce the side effects of cancer therapy, including chemoprotective and radioprotective agents, will be discussed in Part III.

Most cancer drugs work by killing cancer cells or slowing down the growth of cancer cells. Unfortunately, most of the cancer drugs are not able to clearly distinguish between cancer cells and normal cells. Therefore, most cancer drugs will damage not only the fast-growing cancer cells but also the fast-growing normal cells, which include bone marrow cells, crypt epithelial cells (lining of small intestine), and hair follicles. In addition, a number of organs (e.g., liver, kidney, and heart) are often injured by chemotherapy.

In order to have a better understanding on how anticancer drugs work and what kind of side effects they can cause, let’s take a look at some anticancer drugs in different categories. 

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2018

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book, "SIDE EFFECTS OF CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIOTHERAPY", prepared by Dr. Jiajiu Shaw, Dr. Frederick Valeriote, and Dr. Ben Chen. 

Side Effects of Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy: Preface

     Cancer is a group of diseases with similar characteristics, out-of-control growth of cancer cells. Conventional cancer treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Although technology advancements have made vast improvements in the last two decades or so, there is no perfect treatment for cancer because of its complexity; one of the major issues related to cancer treatment is the unwanted side effects.

In the upcoming series, we will focus on the side effects induced by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. We will briefly introduce chemotherapy and radiotherapy; we will also describe the side effects, current methods to tackle the side effect issue, and how to manage the side effects.

The purpose of this coming series is to help people understand the potential side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. However, it is important for you to know that this blog is not intended to substitute the expertise and judgment of your physicians or other medical practitioners.

Although the upcoming series related to side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy can be somewhat technical, people with some technical background in chemistry/biochemistry should be able to read through without much difficulty.

Finally, if this blog is useful for you in any way, please share it with your loved ones and friends.

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Most of the contents posted are extracted from the following books: (1) IS CANCER IN US, and (2) SIDE EFFECTS OF CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIOTHERAPY. 

Additional Information and Other Common Questions (2)

Can we do something about the “bad luck”

Let’s ask ourselves, even though we have no choice for the trip provided to us (the journey of our lives provided by nature), there is a lot we can do to make the trips safer and with fewer chances of getting involved with accidents.  For example, we can make sure the car is well maintained and we can drive more carefully by not speeding and not tailgating.  I believe that this strategy works similarly in reducing the risk of cancer. 

We can reduce bad foods and eat healthful foods; we can do regular exercise instead of being lazy; we can relax as needed instead of being under stress all the time; we can get rid of our bad habits (e.g., smoking and heavy drinking); we can avoid exposure to carcinogens and bad living environment.  All these could make the journeys of our normal/stem cells (i.e., cell cycles) safer and with fewer accidents, i.e., lower the chances for cell mutation to become cancerous. 

In addition, by doing the right things onto ourselves (eventually onto our normal/stem cells), we can maintain healthier cell cycles for our normal/stem cells so that the check points in the cycles (G₁, G₂, M check points) are less prone to mistakes.  If the check points are not healthy, they tend to allow damaged cells to continue the cell cycle to grow or divide and they might become cancer cells.  The other aspect about stem cells is the duration of cell cycle.  Some stem cells in the body don’t reproduce as quickly as the others; some stem cells may be stimulated by the environmental factors to grow and reproduce faster.  In this case, some things can be done to reduce the stimulation and then slow down the growth/replication of stem cells.  Therefore, it is possible to take some actions to reduce the chances of bad luck from happening.

In short, don’t be discouraged by the two-thirds of bad luck; many of them are attributable to macro- and micro-environmental factors, on which we do have some control.

Yes, accidents do happen in many aspects of one’s life.  Theoretically, anyone may be subject to the possibility of an accident such as earthquake, tornado, flood, robbery, car accident, etc.  However, one can always reduce the chances for the accidents to happen.  For example, one does not have to live in an earthquake zone; one can also live in an area with lower frequency of tornados, a higher area with lower flood opportunities, and areas with lower crime rates.  By doing so, can anyone say that he or she is 100% free from of any accident?  The answer is NO.  That’s why we need life insurance, home insurance, and auto insurance.  However, the chances of accidents happening can be significantly reduced by one’s proactive actions. 

I think you’ll agree that there is no guarantee for anything.  Unfortunately, that is how life is.  For cancer prevention, all we can do is to reduce the chance of getting it.  With today’s knowledge derived from the research work by thousands of scientists, we can really significantly reduce the chances of getting cancer.

In summary, although no one can guarantee that he or she will never get cancer, but there is a lot one can do to significantly reduce the chances of getting cancer. 

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2018

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I wrote, "IS CANCER IN US", published recently.

Free book

 FREE BOOK FOR 10 LUCKY PEOPLE

No String Attached!

Thanks for the visits from people like you, this blog has been viewed for nearly 10,000 times. I hope more people continue to view this blog in the future. To celebrate this milestone, I am giving 10 hard copies of my book, IS CANCER IN US, to 10 lucky people in the United States.

To request a copy of free book, please send an e-mail request to jiajiushaw@gmail.com, type “Free Book” in the subject line and provide your name and shipping address. I will select 10 lucky people randomly and ship the book at my earliest convenience.

Your request MUST be made no later than 11/15/2017.

If you are the lucky one to receive the book, I hope you can continue to visit my blog in the future. If you are not selected but really like to have the book, you can always purchase the book at amazon.

What Can One Do to Reduce the Chances of Getting Cancer (6)

To reduce the chances of getting cancer, additional general actions are worthy of consideration: (1) Improve the diet and living environment, (2) Improve the physical status, (3) Improve the mental status, and (4) Follow nature’s rules.

Improve Your Diet and Living Environment

Although anything we eat needs to go through the gastrointestinal track and will be digested before being absorbed and utilized by the body, it is probably true that we are what we eat.  It is not surprising that eating too much fatty food tend to make people fat.  Many reports showed that people on high-fat and low-fiber diet tend to have a high probability of getting colon cancer.  It is well known that fruits and vegetables contain a lot of phytochemicals which are associated with antioxidant and anticancer activities.  It is also not surprising that air pollution and smoking tend to increase the chances for people to get lung cancer. 

Improve Your Physical Status

Do regular exercise to keep your body in good shape.  A physically healthy body means all body components are functioning in coordination according to nature’s rules.  If this is the case, there will be a lower probability for normal cells to be accidentally changed into cancer cells.

According to a scientific article published by British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2009, men with leisure-time physical activity of more than 5.2 METs (metabolic equivalents) had a lower risk of cancer death as compared with man whose mean intensity of physical activity was less than 3.7 METs (lowest quartile).

Improve Your Mental Status

Emotion and health are very closely related.  Mental status affects cytokines (down-regulation or up-regulation) which are related to many health issues.  In our daily lives, we are often under all kinds of emotion.  The bad news is that it has been reported that negative emotions are associated with poorer health.  However, the good news is that positive emotions are associated with good health.  One specific example is that positive emotions lower elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin 6 (IL-6).

Although there is no solid evidence showing that stress is directly related to the occurrence of cancer, many studies did show that stress can produce a micro-environment that is more favorable to cancer growth.

Follow Nature’s Rules

What parameters are important in complying with the rules of nature?  These include circadian rhythm, nutrition, air, water, temperature, exercise, chemicals, viruses, bacteria, and other environmental factors.  Examples will be presented in the upcoming sections.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2017

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I wrote, "IS CANCER IN US", published recently.

What Can One Do to Reduce the Chances of Getting Cancer (2)

In this segment, we are going to briefly describe several principles that could reduce the chances of getting cancer; they are all related to two objectives: (1) avoid/lower the risk factor of getting cancer, and (2) strengthen the immune system.  The very basic principle to achieve both objectives is to live according to the rules of nature.

Human beings are amazing organisms created by Mother Nature.  Therefore, it makes a lot of sense for us to follow nature’s rules.  In a normal human body, different types of cells in different tissues live, function, and die as they are supposed to.  This is similar to a situation wherein ordinary people live in a normal community; in the community, everyone lives, works to contribute to the society, gets married, produces the next generation, and dies.  This general process was outlined in our unique human life cycle scheme in my book, IS CANCER IN US.  

However, there are a number of specific subjects that need to be further described in order to have a better understanding about reducing the chances of getting cancer.  They will be briefly described shortly.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2017
Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I wrote, "IS CANCER IN US", published in 2016.

What Can One Do to Reduce the Chances of Getting Cancer (1)

As mentioned in previous sections, there are three general strategies to deal with cancer: active prevention, early detection, and effective treatment.  Prevention is the area where we can do most and practice almost all the time. 

In terms of cancer prevention, in one’s everyday life, people need to take a good care of themselves with at least two goals in mind:

One should try to avoid and/or lower the risk factors of cancer to minimize the chances for normal cells or stem cells to become cancer cells;

One should strengthen the immune system.  One should maintain a healthy immune system so that, if and when any cell begins to become cancerous, the body’s immune system has a better chance to fight against the early-stage transition of normal cells to abnormal cells.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2017
Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I wrote, "IS CANCER IN US", published in 2016.

Natural Products for Cancer Prevention/Management (21)

Ginseng

Ginseng has been widely used as a traditional Chinese medicine in treating a number of diseases and for increasing general health. It is generally divided into two types: Asian ginseng and American ginseng. They all contain a number of ginsenosides and polysaccharides; both are thought to be active ingredients for the biological effects of ginseng. Ginseng has been shown to lower the elevated levels of blood sugar in diabetic patients. It has also been shown to reduce cancer-related fatigue for cancer patients.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2017

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I wrote, "IS CANCER IN US", published recently.

Natural Products for Cancer Prevention/Management (20)

Green Tea

Green tea contains a number of antioxidants, including flavonoids and polyphenols.  Green tea is a very good source of catechins, which is a flavonoid; benefits of flavonoids have been mentioned in a previous section.  

      Studies have shown that green tea prevent or slows down the development of cancer in liver, colon, and breast.  However, not all clinical studies showed the same positive effects.  Some clinical studies suggested that in order to have certain beneficial effects against cancer, one may have to drink three to five cups of green tea a day.


© Jiajiu Shaw, 2017

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I wrote, "IS CANCER IN US", published recently.

Natural Products for Cancer Prevention/Management (18)

Lutein

Lutein is found in many natural products including corn, grapes, orange, broccoli, and zucchini.  It is one of the major carotenoids found in human eyes and has been used for eye protection or to help prevent eye diseases.  Although more positive evidence is needed, lutein has been used to lower the risks of colon cancer, and breast cancer.  Women with high lutein content in their diets have been shown to have lower rates of breast cancer.


© Jiajiu Shaw, 2017

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I wrote, "IS CANCER IN US", published recently.

Natural Products for Cancer Prevention/Management (17)

Epicatechin

Cocoa, the major ingredient of dark chocolate, contains relatively high amounts of epicatechin, a polyphenol. It is well known that polyphenols are naturally derived compounds with a number of health benefits. In animal studies, Polyphenol-enriched fruit extracts containing epicatechin exhibited a significant anti-allergic effect in animal studies. Some reports indicate that epicatechin can be a cancer preventive agent and maybe used as an adjuvant for chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2017

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I wrote, "IS CANCER IN US", published recently.

Natural Products for Cancer Prevention/Management (16)

Burdock Root (Gobo Root)

The long root of burdock (Gobo root) is a commonly used vegetable and has also been used as a folk medicine in Japan and in China, Korea, and China for years. Gobo root is now available in many grocery stores in the U.S.  It is also believed that gobo root kills germs and also increases urine flow, thus it has been used to treat cold and high blood pressure. Burdock roots have been used as a folk medicine for diabetes, joint pain, and cancer.

Burdock roots contain arctiin, luteolin and quercetin. Arctiin is a polyphonic substance found in plants. It is reported to be anticancer in vitro and in animal models. Luteolin is a flavonoid that is also reported to be anticancer in vitro and could be useful in cancer prevention.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2017

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I wrote, "IS CANCER IN US", published recently.

Natural Products for Cancer Prevention/Management (15)

Milk Thistle

Milk thistle has been used for years as a folk medicine for many diseases especially liver and gallbladder diseases.  The main active ingredient is believed to be a flavonoid called silymarin, which is a plant flavonoid isolated from the seeds of milk thistle.

Silymarin has anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic, and hepatoprotective effects.  It has also been reported to show some effect in skin cancer prevention. 

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2016

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I wrote, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Natural Products for Cancer Prevention/Management (14)

Chinese Skullcap

Chinese skullcap is native to China; its Chinese name is Huang Qin.  Chinese skullcap has been used as part of Chinese traditional medicine for thousands of years and reported to have certain beneficial biological activities against many diseases including cancer, asthma, allergy, arthritis, Alzheimer, and hepatoma.

There are more than 30 flavonoids in the root of Chinese skullcap; it is reported that baicalein flavonoid is one of the main active ingredients.  Baicalein is one of the most studied herbal chemicals.  

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2016

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Natural Products for Cancer Prevention/Management (13)

Berberine

Berberine (Huang Lian Su), is found in a number of plants such as Chinese goldthread or goldenseal, and Amur cork tree.  Berberine is an important ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine and has been used in a number of indications, including bacterial & viral infections, diabetes, inflammation, liver injury, elevated blood cholesterol, congestive heart failure, and more notably, cancer.

Does berberine have any effects in cancer?  Cell and animal studies have indicated that it could have certain activities against a number of tumors including liver cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, and melanoma.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2016

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Natural Products for Cancer Prevention/Management (11)

Lycopene

Lycopene belongs to the carotenoid family.  It is a red pigment and photochemical that blocks free radicals; it is found in tomato, papaya, watermelon, and some other fruits/vegetables.

It was reported that lycopene is a promising agent for prostate cancer chemoprevention based on the studies from animal and human clinical trials. Preclinical studies show that lycopene has potent in vitro and in vivo antitumor effects, suggesting potential preventive and therapeutic roles for the compound.  Some studies showed that dietary intake of lycopene is inversely associated with the risk of many cancers.  However, clinical trials with lycopene have only recently been started, and available clinical data have not shown a firm conclusion with regard to its use in cancer prevention and treatment.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2016

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I wrote, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.