| [ Summary ] |
Recently, prevention of cancer through synthetic chemicals or dietary intervention has received increasing interest. The fact that inflammation and obesity are risk factors for colorectal cancer (CRC) development led us to investigate whether several compounds that can affect inflammation and obesity-related serum levels or enzymatic alterations involving tumorigenesis are able to inhibit colon carcinogenesis, as seen using different animal models. These agents have been demonstrated to act on multiple key elements in signal transduction pathways related to cellular proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, inflammation, and obesity. However, these molecular mechanisms of action need to be characterized and elucidated. These preclinical findings have revealed novel molecular pharmacological targets for chemoprevention of CRC in patients with inflamed colons, obese populations, and FAP patients. In this short review, recent findings regarding this aspect are summarized and the need for novel chemopreventive approaches for prevention in high-risk CRC populations is highlighted. |