St appropriate patient profiles to adopt a nutritional regimen that could

St appropriate patient profiles to adopt a nutritional regimen that could contribute to a better result of antitumor therapy. Aspects such as disease stage, treatment resistance, and previous cycles of chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy may be important factors in this regard. The variable influence of antioxidants on antitumor therapy can be clearly illustrated considering lung cancer patients, for whom the intake of supplements with high doses of carotene is harmful, especially in smokers, and it has been correlated with a worse prognosis. EnsartinibMedChemExpress Ensartinib However, mineral antioxidants seem to produce a beneficial Necrostatin-1 supplement effect on prostate cancer. Thus, the intake of selenium together with vitamin E, at physiologic doses and for a long period of time, appears to decrease the incidence of the disease. Similarly, zinc appears to inhibit the proliferation of prostate tumor cells. Paradoxically, zinc12 must be ingested through the diet or as a supplement at physiologic doses (below 100 mg/day), because higher doses can produce the opposite effect. Furthermore, the administration of different antioxidants with the same antitumor drug can also produce very diverse effects. Thus, the intake of vitamin C supplements during the doxorubicin treatment has been associated with an acceleration of the malignant process, whereas if some polyphenols are administered, such as tannins, the systemic toxic effects of the drug could be reduced, without interfering with the efficacy of doxorubicin. Some clinical studies have shown that certain antioxidants could have synergy with some drugs, enhancing its activity. In this regard, NAC, melatonin, and some flavonoids appear to be the most promising antioxidant candidates for cancer therapies. Since the antioxidant environment has been associated with a reduction of the activity of some drugs, it would be very interesting to conduct new trials, in which one of these antioxidants is administered to patients under nutritional restriction of antioxidants. The antioxidant status of cells has been correlated with the resistance against drugs that exert their antitumor effects through the induction of oxidative stress. Therefore, it would be interesting to evaluate the basal antioxidant status of the patients, by determining serum levels of antioxidants. This study could serve in the future to adjust the doses of exogenous antioxidants. The moment of administration of the exogenous antioxidants seems to be another important factor. In fact, and according to the results of the studies reviewed in this paper, it could be possible that dietary recommendations to patients should not be needed to be followed long time after receiving the drug dose. This is due to the fact that the interaction of antioxidant and drugs seems to disappear a few hours after their administration. Similarly, other important topics are the route of administration and the dosage of antioxidants, since they may affect the effectiveness of the treatment. It is also important to deepen the understanding of the biochemistry of endogenous antioxidants which are responsible for the failure of some treatments, as in the case of Prdx proteins, which reduce the therapeutic efficacy of doxorubicin. This study would allow the discovery and development of specific inhibitors of such proteins and therefore improve the treatments. In fact, there are already specific inhibitors of SOD and other endogenous enzymes, such as DDT (sodium diethyldithiocarbamate) or ellagic acid, which are.St appropriate patient profiles to adopt a nutritional regimen that could contribute to a better result of antitumor therapy. Aspects such as disease stage, treatment resistance, and previous cycles of chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy may be important factors in this regard. The variable influence of antioxidants on antitumor therapy can be clearly illustrated considering lung cancer patients, for whom the intake of supplements with high doses of carotene is harmful, especially in smokers, and it has been correlated with a worse prognosis. However, mineral antioxidants seem to produce a beneficial effect on prostate cancer. Thus, the intake of selenium together with vitamin E, at physiologic doses and for a long period of time, appears to decrease the incidence of the disease. Similarly, zinc appears to inhibit the proliferation of prostate tumor cells. Paradoxically, zinc12 must be ingested through the diet or as a supplement at physiologic doses (below 100 mg/day), because higher doses can produce the opposite effect. Furthermore, the administration of different antioxidants with the same antitumor drug can also produce very diverse effects. Thus, the intake of vitamin C supplements during the doxorubicin treatment has been associated with an acceleration of the malignant process, whereas if some polyphenols are administered, such as tannins, the systemic toxic effects of the drug could be reduced, without interfering with the efficacy of doxorubicin. Some clinical studies have shown that certain antioxidants could have synergy with some drugs, enhancing its activity. In this regard, NAC, melatonin, and some flavonoids appear to be the most promising antioxidant candidates for cancer therapies. Since the antioxidant environment has been associated with a reduction of the activity of some drugs, it would be very interesting to conduct new trials, in which one of these antioxidants is administered to patients under nutritional restriction of antioxidants. The antioxidant status of cells has been correlated with the resistance against drugs that exert their antitumor effects through the induction of oxidative stress. Therefore, it would be interesting to evaluate the basal antioxidant status of the patients, by determining serum levels of antioxidants. This study could serve in the future to adjust the doses of exogenous antioxidants. The moment of administration of the exogenous antioxidants seems to be another important factor. In fact, and according to the results of the studies reviewed in this paper, it could be possible that dietary recommendations to patients should not be needed to be followed long time after receiving the drug dose. This is due to the fact that the interaction of antioxidant and drugs seems to disappear a few hours after their administration. Similarly, other important topics are the route of administration and the dosage of antioxidants, since they may affect the effectiveness of the treatment. It is also important to deepen the understanding of the biochemistry of endogenous antioxidants which are responsible for the failure of some treatments, as in the case of Prdx proteins, which reduce the therapeutic efficacy of doxorubicin. This study would allow the discovery and development of specific inhibitors of such proteins and therefore improve the treatments. In fact, there are already specific inhibitors of SOD and other endogenous enzymes, such as DDT (sodium diethyldithiocarbamate) or ellagic acid, which are.