Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2015 Jan;44(1):1-10.
doi: 10.1097/MPA.0000000000000257.

The Role of Nutraceuticals in Pancreatic Cancer Prevention and Therapy: Targeting Cellular Signaling, MicroRNAs, and Epigenome

Yiwei Li  1 , Vay Liang W Go, Fazlul H Sarkar
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Nutraceuticals in Pancreatic Cancer Prevention and Therapy: Targeting Cellular Signaling, MicroRNAs, and Epigenome

Yiwei Li et al. Pancreas. 2015 Jan.

Abstract

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive malignancies in US adults. 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 for pancreatic cancer, demonstrating the inhibitory effects of antioxidants on pancreatic carcinogenesis. Moreover, nutraceuticals, the anticancer 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 microRNAs (miRNAs) and down-regulate the expression of oncogenic miRNAs, leading to the inhibition of pancreatic cancer cell growth and pancreatic cancer stem cell 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.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The effects of nutraceuticals on the development and progression of pancreatic cancer though the regulation of miRNA and epigenome mediated cellular signaling network.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The effects of nutraceuticals on the AMPK-mTOR and IGF signaling.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Siegel R, Ma J, Zou Z, et al. Cancer statistics, 2014. CA Cancer J Clin. 2014;64:9–29. - PubMed
    1. Pool-Zobel BL, Adlercreutz H, Glei M, et al. Isoflavonoids and lignans have different potentials to modulate oxidative genetic damage in human colon cells. Carcinogenesis. 2000;21:1247–1252. - PubMed
    1. Astley SB, Elliott RM, Archer DB, et al. Increased cellular carotenoid levels reduce the persistence of DNA single-strand breaks after oxidative challenge. Nutr Cancer. 2002;43:202–213. - PubMed
    1. De Martinis BS, Bianchi MD. Effect of vitamin C supplementation against cisplatin-induced toxicity and oxidative DNA damage in rats. Pharmacol Res. 2001;44:317–320. - PubMed
    1. Appel MJ, Roverts G, Woutersen RA. Inhibitory effects of micronutrients on pancreatic carcinogenesis in azaserine-treated rats. Carcinogenesis. 1991;12:2157–2161. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms