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Review
. 2021 Jan 5;13(1):153.
doi: 10.3390/nu13010153.

Retinoids in Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Helen B Everts  1 , Eleonore-Nausica Akuailou  1
Affiliations
Review

Retinoids in Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Helen B Everts et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Animal studies as early as the 1920s suggested that vitamin A deficiency leads to squamous cell metaplasia in numerous epithelial tissues including the skin. However, humans usually die from vitamin A deficiency before cancers have time to develop. A recent long-term cohort study found that high dietary vitamin A reduced the risk of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC). cSCC is a form of nonmelanoma skin cancer that primarily occurs from excess exposure to ultraviolet light B (UVB). These cancers are expensive to treat and can lead to metastasis and death. Oral synthetic retinoids prevent the reoccurrence of cSCC, but side effects limit their use in chemoprevention. Several proteins involved in vitamin A metabolism and signaling are altered in cSCC, which may lead to retinoid resistance. The expression of vitamin A metabolism proteins may also have prognostic value. This article reviews what is known about natural and synthetic retinoids and their metabolism in cSCC.

Keywords: metabolism; retinoid resistance; retinoids; skin cancer; vitamin A.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Interactions between retinoid metabolism and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC). This figure shows how both exogenous retinoic acid (RA) regulates epidermal growth factor (EGF) and Wingless-type MMTV integration site (WNT) signaling, and cSCC reduces the expression of key retinoid metabolism proteins. Items in red are increased in cSCC, items in green are decreased in cSCC. Arrows indicate signaling pathways. The blue blocked line indicates inhibition. ? indicates that it is unclear how STRA6 impacts STAT3 in the context of cSCC.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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