Increasing evidence from epidemiological, preclinical and clinical studies suggests that dysregulated inflammatory response plays a pivotal role in a multitude of chronic ailments including cancer. The molecular mechanism(s) by which chronic inflammation drives cancer initiation and promotion include increased production of pro-inflammatory mediators, such as cytokines, chemokines, reactive oxygen intermediates, increased expression of oncogenes, COX-2 (cyclo-oxygenase-2), 5-LOX (5-lipoxygenase) and MMPs (matrix metalloproteinases), and pro-inflammatory transcription factors such as NF-κB (nuclear factor κB), STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 3), AP-1 (activator protein 1) and HIF-1α (hypoxia-inducible factor 1α) that mediate tumour cell proliferation, transformation, metastasis, survival, invasion, angiogenesis, chemoresistance and radioresistance. These inflammation-associated molecules are activated by a number of environmental and lifestyle-related factors including infectious agents, tobacco, stress, diet, obesity and alcohol, which together are thought to drive as much as 90% of all cancers. The present review will focus primarily on the role of various inflammatory intermediates responsible for tumour initiation and progression, and discuss in detail the critical link between inflammation and cancer.
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Review Article|
September 26 2011
Multifaceted link between cancer and inflammation
Gautam Sethi;
Gautam Sethi
1
*Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore
1Correspondence may be addressed to either of these authors (email gautam_sethi@nuhs.edu.sg or vinayt@imcb.a-star.edu.sg).
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Muthu K. Shanmugam;
Muthu K. Shanmugam
*Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore
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Lalitha Ramachandran;
Lalitha Ramachandran
*Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore
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Alan Prem Kumar;
Alan Prem Kumar
*Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore
†Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, 28 Medical Drive, Singapore 117456, Singapore
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Vinay Tergaonkar
Vinay Tergaonkar
1
‡Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology (A*STAR), 61 Biopolis Drive, Singapore 138673, Singapore
1Correspondence may be addressed to either of these authors (email gautam_sethi@nuhs.edu.sg or vinayt@imcb.a-star.edu.sg).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
November 19 2010
Revision Received:
March 01 2011
Accepted:
March 07 2011
Online ISSN: 1573-4935
Print ISSN: 0144-8463
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2012 Biochemical Society
2012
Biosci Rep (2012) 32 (1): 1–15.
Article history
Received:
November 19 2010
Revision Received:
March 01 2011
Accepted:
March 07 2011
Citation
Gautam Sethi, Muthu K. Shanmugam, Lalitha Ramachandran, Alan Prem Kumar, Vinay Tergaonkar; Multifaceted link between cancer and inflammation. Biosci Rep 1 February 2012; 32 (1): 1–15. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BSR20100136
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