RETRACTED: The effect of CELLFOOD^TM on radiotherapy or combined chemoradiotherapy: preclinical evidence

Abstract

Background: Based on previous observations that the nutraceutical CELLFOOD™ (CF), the ‘physiological modulator’ that aimed to make oxygen available ‘on demand’, inhibits the growth of cancer cells, this study was designed to investigate the role of CF in the regulation of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF1α) and its correlated proteins, phosphoglycerate kinase 1 and vascular endothelial growth factor. Our idea was that CF, acting on HIF1α, in combination with current anticancer therapies could improve their effectiveness. Methods: To evaluate the effect of CF in association with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, different human cancer cell lines and mice with mesothelioma were analysed by tumour growth, clonogenic assay, western blot and immunohistochemical analysis. Results: CF in combination with radiation with or without cisplatin increases the death rate of cancer cells. In vivo, 70% of mice treated with CF before the mesothelioma graft did not show any tumour growth, indicating a possible preventive effect of CF. Moreover, in mouse mesothelioma xenografts, CF improves the effect of radiotherapy also in combination with chemotherapy treatment. Immunohistochemical analysis of tumour explants showed that HIF1α expression was reduced by the combination of CF and radiotherapy treatment and even more by the combination of CF and radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment. Mechanistically, CF increases the fraction of oxygenated cells, making the radiotherapy more effective with a greater production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that in turn, reduce the HIF1α expression. This effect is amplified by further increase in ROS from chemotherapy. Conclusions: Collectively, results from preclinical trials suggest that CF could be a useful intervention to improve the efficacy of radiotherapy or combined treatment strategies and could be a promising treatment modality to counteract cancer.

Application of Cyclodextrin for Cancer Immunotherapy

“…Cancer remains one of the major threats to human health worldwide, with a low cure rate, high recurrence, and metastasis. There are 14 million new cases and more than 80 million deaths from cancer every year [ 1 ]. Compared with other treatment methods, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are still the mainstream clinical treatment strategies for cancer.…”

“…However, the efficacy of immunotherapy can be attenuated by various influential factors. There are probably three reasons: (1) the poor water solubility of immunotherapy drugs, which affects the efficacy; (2) immunosuppression; and (3) immune escape [13]. The innate immune system has an immunosurveillance role for recognizing and further destroying tumor cells.…”