Anticancer properties of tocotrienols: A review of cellular mechanisms and molecular targets.

Abstract

Vitamin E is composed of two groups of compounds: α-, β-, γ-, and δ-tocopherols (TPs), and the corresponding unsaturated tocotrienols (TTs). TTs are found in natural sources such as red palm oil, annatto seeds, and rice bran. In the last decades, TTs (specifically, γ-TT and δ-TT) have gained interest due to their health benefits in chronic diseases, based on their antioxidant, neuroprotective, cholesterol-lowering, anti-inflammatory activities. Several in vitro and in vivo studies pointed out that TTs also exert a significant antitumor activity in a wide range of cancer cells. Specifically, TTs were shown to exert antiproliferative/proapoptotic effects and to reduce the metastatic or angiogenic properties of different cancer cells; moreover, these compounds were reported to specifically target the subpopulation of cancer stem cells, known to be deeply involved in the development of resistance to standard therapies. Interestingly, recent studies pointed out that TTs exert a synergistic antitumor effect on cancer cells when given in combination with either standard antitumor agents (i.e., chemotherapeutics, statins, "targeted" therapies) or natural compounds with anticancer activity (i.e., sesamin, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), resveratrol, ferulic acid). Based on these observations, different TT synthetic derivatives and formulations were recently developed and demonstrated to improve TT water solubility and to reduce TT metabolism in cancer cells, thus increasing their biological activity. These promising results, together with the safety of TT administration in healthy subjects, suggest that these compounds might represent a new chemopreventive or anticancer treatment (i.e., in combination with standard therapies) strategy. Clinical trials aimed at confirming this antitumor activity of TTs are needed.

• Authors: Marina Montagnani Marelli, Monica Marzagalli, Fabrizio Fontana, Michela Raimondi, Roberta Manuela Moretti, Patrizia Limonta
• Journal: Journal of cellular physiology (J Cell Physiol) Vol. 234 Issue 2 Pg. 1147-1164 (02 2019) ISSN: 1097-4652 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 30066964 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, Review)
• Copyright: © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Chemical References

• Tocotrienols

Topics

• Animals
• Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols (adverse effects, therapeutic use)
• Drug Synergism
• Humans
• Neoplasms (drug therapy, metabolism, pathology)
• Signal Transduction
• Tocotrienols (adverse effects, therapeutic use)
• Treatment Outcome