The promise of retinoids to fight against cancer

Abstract

Retinoids have a reputation for being both detrimental and beneficial: they are teratogens, but they also have tumour-suppressive capacity. Cell biology and genetics have significantly improved our understanding of the mechanisms that underlie the anti-proliferative action of retinoids. Recent elucidation of the pathways that are activated by retinoids will help us to exploit the beneficial aspects of this powerful class of compounds for cancer therapy and prevention.