Chemoprevention

Abstract

With the aging of the population cancer mortality is increasing. Cancer treatment is making progress - steadily but slowly. Therefore, the therapy for late disease needs to be complemented by other approaches. In recent years, the possibility has been raised that pharmacologic agents or nutritional modification can prevent the development of human neoplasia, slow down its progression, or make it regress. Basic research has corroborated this concept [1], and clinical trials have shown that chemopreventive agents can be effective in controlling oral leukoplakia, [2,3], solar keratosis [4], skin cancer [5] and second primary head and neck squamous cell carcinomas [6]. High fibre intake leads to a decrease in the number of polyps in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis [7]. The initial choice of chemopreventive agents for clinical trials has been limited to a few compounds and has been dictated by epidemiologic and laboratory data available in the late 1970s and by the rigid requirement of the use of a “safe” compound in normal or nearly normal populations [8].