β-carotene as a novel adjuvant in the therapy with 5-FU of p53 deleted colon cancer cells

Colon cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide. The main cause of failure in colon cancer therapy is represented by drug resistance in the course of treatment which has become very common. Despite recent therapeutic advancements, resistance to 5- Fluoruracil (5-FU) is still a major obstacle to successful treatments of this disease. Consequently, how to overcome 5-FU resistance is a key issue for cancer management. In order to study novel therapeutic approaches taking advantage from natural compounds showing anticancer effects we focused our interest on beta-carotene and its potential antiproliferative effects to overcome drug resistance. This compound is the most abundant carotenoid in the human diet and a well-known precursor of retinoids which, as regulator of cell proliferation and differentiation, has been shown to inhibit colon cancer progression [1]. In this study we assessed the potential role of beta-carotene as adjuvant of 5-FU in the treatment with 5-FU of p53 deleted colon cancer cells. Our results led us to propose beta-carotene in combination with 5-FU as a promising cancer therapy by examining p53 profiles in tumors to yield a better clinical outcomes. 1. Lee NY, Kim Y, Kim YS, Shin JH, Rubin LP, Kim Y. β-Carotene exerts anti-colon cancer effects by regulating M2 macrophages and activated fibroblasts. J Nutr Biochem. 2020 Aug;82:108402. doi: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2020.108402. Epub 2020 Apr 24. PMID: 32450500.