Dëpartement des Sciences Pharmaceutiques, Universitë Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.
Curr Mol Pharmacol. 2008 Jan;1(1):80-92.
Despite the progress achieved in chemo- and radiotherapy, cancer is still a leading life-threatening pathology. In that sense, there is a need for novel therapeutic strategies based on our current knowledge of cancer biology. Among the phenotypical features of cancer cells, two of them are of particular interest: their nearly universal glycolytic phenotype and their sensitivity towards an oxidative stress, both resulting from the combination of high anabolic needs and hypoxic growth conditions. By using menadione (vitamin K3) and ascorbate (vitamin C), we took advantage of these features to develop an original approach that consists in the exposure of cancer cells to an oxidant insult. When used in combination, these compounds exhibit a synergistic action and are devoid of major toxicity in vivo. Thus, this review is dedicated to the analysis of the molecular pathways by which this promising combination exerts its antitumoural effect.
尽管在化疗和放疗方面取得了进展，但癌症仍然是一种主要的危及生命的疾病。在这方面，我们需要根据当前对癌症生物学的认识，制定新的治疗策略。在癌细胞的表型特征中，有两个特别值得关注：它们几乎普遍存在的糖酵解表型和对氧化应激的敏感性，这两者都是由高合成代谢需求和缺氧生长条件的结合所导致的。我们利用甲萘醌（维生素 K3）和抗坏血酸（维生素 C）利用了这些特性，开发了一种新的方法，即将癌细胞暴露于氧化剂的损伤之下。当这些化合物联合使用时，它们表现出协同作用，并且在体内没有明显的毒性。因此，本综述致力于分析这种有前途的组合发挥抗肿瘤作用的分子途径。
