Critical Review on Fatty Acid-Based Food and Nutraceuticals as Supporting Therapy in Cancer

Abstract

Fatty acids have an important place in both biological and nutritional contexts and, from a clinical point of view, they have known consequences for diseases’ onset and development, including cancer. The use of fatty acid-based food and nutraceuticals to support cancer therapy is a multidisciplinary subject, involving molecular and clinical research. Knowledge regarding polyunsaturated fatty acids essentiality/oxidizability and the role of lipogenesis-desaturase pathways for cell growth, as well as oxidative reactivity in cancer cells, are discussed, since they can drive the choice of fatty acids using their multiple roles to support antitumoral drug activity. The central role of membrane fatty acid composition is highlighted for the application of membrane lipid therapy. As fatty acids are also known as biomarkers of cancer onset and progression, the personalization of the fatty acid-based therapy is also possible, taking into account other important factors such as formulation, bioavailability and the distribution of the supplementation. A holistic approach emerges combining nutra- and pharma-strategies in an appropriate manner, to develop further knowledge and applications in cancer therapy.

Palmitic Acid Inhibits Cell Proliferation and Tumor Growth of Endometrial Cancer In Vitro and In Vivo

“…FA supplements are naturally involved in membrane formation, lipid remodeling, and membrane-based signaling processes that occur in vivo and have the same potential to affect biological function as endogenously produced molecules (87). Lipidomic analysis showed that fatty acid composition of membrane and cellular lipid pool is continuously remodeled by the influence of free fatty acid availability, including endogenous synthesis and exogenous uptake (15,16).…”

Molecular Mechanisms of Western Diet-Induced Obesity and Obesity-Related Carcinogenesis—A Narrative Review

“…However, the promising results of ketogenic diets in animal studies and early clinical case series have been difficult to demonstrate in recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses of human trials. Sufficiently powered, randomized controlled trials are required to prove the benefits [ 216 , 217 , 218 , 219 , 220 ] ( Figure 11 ).…”

“…However, the promising results of ketogenic diets in animal studies and early clinical case series have been difficult to demonstrate in recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses of human trials. Sufficiently powered, randomized controlled trials are required to prove the benefits [216][217][218][219][220] (Figure 11). Obesity and metabolic syndrome not only increase the risk of primary cancers, but also influence prognosis after cancer treatment [221][222][223][224][225].…”

Functional Foods: Capcaisin And Receptor-independent ways

“…Today's people are more knowledgeable and interested in health-related issues than ever before. Today, many journals in the field of medicine give wide coverage to research in this field (9)(10)(11).…”