The Role of Nutraceuticals in Pancreatic Cancer Prevention and Therapy

Abstract

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive malignancies in US adults. The experimental studies have found that antioxidant nutrients could reduce oxidative DNA damage, suggesting that these antioxidants may protect against pancreatic carcinogenesis. Several epidemiologic studies showed that dietary intake of antioxidants was inversely associated with the risk of pancreatic cancer, demonstrating the inhibitory effects of antioxidants on pancreatic carcinogenesis. Moreover, nutraceuticals, the anti-cancer agents from diet or natural plants, have been found to inhibit the development and progression of pancreatic cancer through the regulation of cellular signaling pathways. Importantly, nutraceuticals also up-regulate the expression of tumor suppressive miRNAs and down-regulate the expression of oncogenic miRNAs, leading to the inhibition of pancreatic cancer cell growth and pancreatic Cancer Stem Cell (CSC) self-renewal through modulation of cellular signaling network. Furthermore, nutraceuticals also regulate epigenetically deregulated DNAs and miRNAs, leading to the normalization of altered cellular signaling in pancreatic cancer cells. Therefore, nutraceuticals could have much broader use in the prevention and/or treatment of pancreatic cancer in combination with conventional chemotherapeutics. However, more in vitro mechanistic experiments, in vivo animal studies, and clinical trials are needed to realize the true value of nutraceuticals in the prevention and/or treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Bitter melon juice exerts its efficacy against pancreatic cancer via targeting both bulk and cancer stem cells

“…Phytochemicals have been known to regulate CSC survival by targeting their self‐renewal pathways . The advantages of exploiting their chemopreventive and therapeutic efficacy are the minimal associated toxicities to surrounding normal healthy cells and cost effectiveness; particularly with PanC, there have been extensive studies connecting dietary agents to reduced PanC incidences . BMJ, a dietary agent extracted from the fruits of Momordica charantia , has numerous associated health benefits; antidiabetic, emetic and laxative .…”

Metabolic Imaging of Head and Neck Cancer Organoids

“…Organoids have been established and characterized for some types of cancers, including breast cancer and pancreatic cancer [16][17]. Different anatomical sites exhibit different cell types, cell structures, media and growth factor requirements, matrix stiffness requirements, and tissue digestion protocols, so characterization of each tumor type is necessary.…”

Chemoprevention and Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer: Update and Review of the Literature

“…It inhibits the phosphorylation of extracellular ERK, promotes the phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase and inhibits xenograft growth in nude mice in vivo [82]. Genistein (in soybeans and soyproteins), as the main isoflavone inhibits cell growth, induces apoptosis and inhibits invasion of pancreatic cancer cells through the inhibition of miR-27A [5,86]. Additionally, genistein influences NF-κB DNA binding, Akt activity and downregulation of the Notch signalling [5].…”