Handbook of Oxidative Stress in Cancer: Mechanistic Aspects

Abstract

Carcinogenesis is a complex and multistep process ending with metastasis. Mainly, gene and metabolic pathways include endogenous and signaling molecular pathways which cause a rise in cell proliferation and a decrease in cell death. Apoptosis is a programmed cell death which can happen with extracellular and intracellular signals. Generally, the extrinsic and the intrinsic pathways are known as the two apoptotic pathways. The excessive ROS production in cancer cells can stimulate the cell proliferation, the DNA mutations, and the formation of drug-resistant cells. It may also ensure a basisfor thedevelopment of novel therapeutic strategies that take advantage of overgenerating ROS to destroy cancer cells. As the ROS-producing agents have toxic side effects and potential mutagenic impact, caution should be exercised during their use. In this chapter, focus will be on ROS generation, the relationship between apoptosis and ROS, and the key apoptotic mechanisms and their regulations.KeywordsApoptosisReactive oxygen speciesCancer cellsCarcinogenesis