This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: theoncologist.2008-0219v1 14/3/213    most recent eLetters: Submit a response to this article Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services E-mail this article link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints/Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Sharifi, N. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Sharifi, N.

Commentary: Antioxidants for Cancer: New Tricks for an Old Dog?

Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA

Correspondence: Correspondence: Nima Sharifi, M.D., Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, Texas 75390-8852, USA. Telephone: 214-645-5910; Fax: 214-648-5915; e-mail: nima.sharifi{at}utsouthwestern.edu

Received October 6, 2008; accepted for publication February 2, 2009.

Disclosures: Nima Sharifi: Research funding: Prostate Cancer Foundation The content of this article has been reviewed by independent peer reviewers to ensure that it is balanced, objective, and free from commercial bias.

Traditionally, the main focus of the importance of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in oncology is that these species induce DNA damage, leading to a predisposition to cancer. However, it has recently been shown that ROS may have an alternative activity, by modulating tumor cell signaling. Moreover, tumor cell signaling mediated by ROS is readily reversible upon treatment with antioxidants. This emerging evidence on the molecular effects of antioxidants on tumor cells, along with the evidence that the route of administration of antioxidants in earlier clinical trials for cancer could not achieve pharmacologically effective levels, suggests that antioxidants may serve as bona fide signal transduction modifiers for cancer. A re-examination of the current evidence and further study is clearly warranted.