There has been a bit of press lately suggesting that Antioxidants might actually be bad for cancer… not good as they are commonly promoted in the media. IFLS has put together a great article on some of the reasons why antioxidants might not be such a great thing [Link].
In addition, we recently wrote a review article about how different ‘stresses’ including oxidation can affect mitosis, and cancer. We also came to a similar conclusion in our review, that antioxidants were a complicated and not always benifical for treating cancer. One of the main reason we suggested this was due to the fact that many common antioxidants are part of the Flavonoid family. On the surface that sound great, but many Flavonoids also happen to potently inhibit cyclin dependent kinases (Cdks). Coincidentally, our other recent article in Cell Cycle, showed that partial inhibition of Cdk1 can dramatically disrupt mitosis and drive severe cytokinesis defects and polyploidy (see video below). These mitotic defects are the foundation of chromosome instability (CIN), which is a hallmark of more aggressive cancer types, that are also resistant to most chemotherapies and treatments. In simple terms, there is a possibility that in some cases, taking large quantities of dietary Flavonoids (e.g red wine, dark chocolate etc) could drive the formation of more aggressive cancers. This is definitely an area that needs a lot more research, and as always make sure that you fully discuss any dietary and supplements with your oncologist.
This is what happens when a ‘fairly normal’ cancer cell is treated with low doses of a Cdk1 inhibitor.
Here is a picture of a polyploid cancer cell, which was produced by partially inhibiting Cdk1.
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