Antioxidative Stress: Inhibiting Reactive Oxygen Species Production as a Cause of Radioresistance and Chemoresistance

Yanchi Chen; Yiling Li; Linyang Huang; Yu Du; Feihong Gan; Yanxi Li; Yang Yao

doi:10.1155/2021/6620306

Antioxidative Stress: Inhibiting Reactive Oxygen Species Production as a Cause of Radioresistance and Chemoresistance

Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2021 Feb 8:2021:6620306. doi: 10.1155/2021/6620306. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Yanchi Chen^{1

2}, Yiling Li^{1

2}, Linyang Huang^{1

2}, Yu Du^{1

2}, Feihong Gan^{1

2}, Yanxi Li^{1

2}, Yang Yao^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
² West China School of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.

Abstract

Radiotherapy and chemotherapy are the most effective nonsurgical treatments for cancer treatment. They usually induce regulated cell death by increasing the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in tumour cells. However, as intracellular ROS concentration increases, many antioxidant pathways are concurrently upregulated by cancer cells to inhibit ROS production, ultimately leading to drug resistance. Understanding the mechanism of antioxidant stress in tumour cells provides a new research direction for overcoming therapeutic resistance. In this review, we address (1) how radiotherapy and chemotherapy kill tumour cells by increasing the level of ROS, (2) the mechanism by which ROS activate antioxidant pathways and the subsequent cellular mitigation of ROS in radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatments, and (3) the potential research direction for targeted treatment to overcome therapeutic resistance.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Drug Resistance, Neoplasm*
Humans
Models, Biological
Oxidative Stress*
Radiation Tolerance*
Reactive Oxygen Species / metabolism*
Signal Transduction

Substances

Reactive Oxygen Species