While many antitumor drugs have yielded unsatisfactory therapeutic results, drugs are one of the most prevalent therapeutic measures for the treatment of cancer. The development of cancer largely results from mutations in nuclear DNA, as well as from those in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Molecular hydrogen (H2), an inert molecule, can scavenge hydroxyl radicals (·OH), which are known to be the strongest oxidizing reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the body that causes these DNA mutations. It has been reported that H2 has no side effects, unlike conventional antitumor drugs, and that it is effective against many diseases caused by oxidative stress and chronic inflammation. Recently, there has been an increasing number of papers on the efficacy of H2 against cancer and its effects in mitigating the side effects of cancer treatment. In this review, we demonstrate the efficacy and safety of H2 as a novel antitumor agent and show that its mechanisms may not only involve the direct scavenging of ·OH, but also other indirect biological defense mechanisms via the regulation of gene expression.
Keywords: DNA mutation; ROS; antitumor agent; antitumor effect; clinical application; gene expression; molecular hydrogen; oxidative stress; reactive oxygen species.