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Review
. 2023 Jun 29;28(13):5081.
doi: 10.3390/molecules28135081.

Molecular Mechanisms of the Antitumor Effects of Mesalazine and Its Preventive Potential in Colorectal Cancer

Joanna Słoka  1 , Marcel Madej  1 , Barbara Strzalka-Mrozik  1
Affiliations
Review

Molecular Mechanisms of the Antitumor Effects of Mesalazine and Its Preventive Potential in Colorectal Cancer

Joanna Słoka et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Chemoprevention is one of the ways to fight colorectal cancer, which is a huge challenge in oncology. Numerous pieces of evidence indicate that chronic inflammation in the course of Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis (UC) is a significant cancer risk factor. Epidemiologic studies suggest that long-term use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including mesalazine, has beneficial effects on colitis-associated colorectal cancer. Mesalazine is a first-line therapy for UC and is also widely used for maintaining remission in UC. Data showed that mesalazine has antiproliferative properties associated with cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibition but can also act through COX-independent pathways. This review summarizes knowledge about mesalazine's molecular mechanisms of action and chemopreventive effect by which it could interfere with colorectal cancer cell proliferation and survival.

Keywords: Wnt/β-catenin pathway; cancer stem cells; chemoprevention; colorectal cancer; inflammation; mesalazine; molecular mechanism; non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Influence of inflammation on cancer development.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The main points of molecular chemoprevention by mesalazine.
Figure 3
Figure 3
5-ASA’s major checkpoints in the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. This figure was created using the Servier Medical Art Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence (http://smart.servier.com (accessed 4 May 2023)).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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