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Phytoestrogens Modulate Oxidative Stress

Cancer Prevention and Treatment

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Handbook of Oxidative Stress in Cancer: Mechanistic Aspects

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Abstract

The development of prevention strategies and more efficient cancer therapies has been the main focus of the scientific community for the last decades. Phytoestrogens are natural compounds that can be found in more than 300 plants. They are characterized by having a close structural similarity to estrogens, which allow them to bind both estrogen receptors (ER), ERα and ERβ, and harbor weak estrogenic activity. Phytoestrogens have been described as modulators of oxidative stress, and their role in cancer prevention has been well documented, although their impact on treatment efficiency is controversial. Most anticancer treatments target mitochondria, diminishing mitochondrial functionality and increasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Since phytoestrogens may interfere with redox homeostasis, they could be an important factor to consider for cancer therapy. In this chapter, we focus on this controversy and have studied the recent research in this area with the objective to find evidence for the role of phytoestrogens in cancer therapy efficacy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Grupo Multidisciplinar de Oncología Traslacional, Institut Universitari d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut (IUNICS), Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

    Margalida Torrens-Mas & Pilar Roca

  2. Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de las Islas Baleares (IdISBa), Palma de Mallorca, Spain

    Margalida Torrens-Mas & Pilar Roca

  3. Ciber Fisiopatología Obesidad y Nutrición (CB06/03), Instituto Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain

    Pilar Roca

Authors
  1. Margalida Torrens-Mas
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  2. Pilar Roca
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Correspondence to Margalida Torrens-Mas .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, West Bengal, India

    Sajal Chakraborti

  2. Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA

    Bimal K. Ray

  3. CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, India

    Susanta Roychoudhury

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Torrens-Mas, M., Roca, P. (2022). Phytoestrogens Modulate Oxidative Stress. In: Chakraborti, S., Ray, B.K., Roychoudhury, S. (eds) Handbook of Oxidative Stress in Cancer: Mechanistic Aspects. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9411-3_133

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