Phytochemical Lycopene Kills Head and Neck Cancer Cells, According to Study

By Kyle J. Norton

Cancer is a group of disease caused by cell growth irregularly in the affected tissue caused by DNA alternation.

Head and neck cancer is a group of cancers originated from the mouth, nose, throat, larynx, sinuses, or salivary glands. 

According to the statistics provided by the Canadian Cancer Society, approximately 4,300 Canadians are diagnosed with cancer of the head and neck every year. Head and neck cancer also cause the death of nearly 1,610 of Canadian.

The overall survival rate of 5 years after diagnosis is 62% tobacco use, alcohol consumption and viral infection including human papillomavirus (HPV) infection (for oropharyngeal cancer), and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection (for nasopharyngeal cancer).

Some researchers suggested that diet pattern may have a strong impact on the onset of the disease.

Dr. Shu-Chun Chuang, the lead scientist wrote, "A dietary pattern score combining high fruit and vegetable intake and low red meat intake, was created. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the dietary items on the risk of HNC were estimated with a two-stage random effects logistic regression model".

And, "Higher dietary pattern scores, reflecting high fruit/vegetable and low red meat intake, were associated with reduced HNC risk (per score increment OR=0.90, 95% CI=0.84–0.97)".

In other words, if you are Western diet follower, you risk of head and neck cancer increased substantially compared to those who follow a traditional diet.

Most common symptoms of head and neck cancer are totally depending on the location of cancer including a lump or sore that does not heal, a sore throat that does not go away, trouble swallowing, or a change in the voice.

Lycopene is a phytochemical in the class of carotenoid, a natural pigment with no vitamin A activity found abundantly in tomatoes and other red fruits and vegetables, such as red carrots, watermelons, and papayas,

Tomatoes provide about 80% of the lycopene in the world diet. In plants, lycopene protects the host against excessive photodamage and perform various functions in photosynthesis.

In the urgency to find a potential compound for the treatment of head and neck cancer, researchers examined the lycopene overload and cytotoxic effects on HNSCC cells.

According to the cell analysis, lycopene at a dose of >10 µM for >24 h inhibited the growth of FaDu and Cal27 cells in a time‑ and dose‑dependent manner.

Furthermore, injection of lycopene not only provided the clearest increase in growth inhibition by cell apoptosis but also limited the cancer cell invasive activity at a dose of 25 µM.

More precisely, lycopene killed cancer cell by exhibiting the protein associated with cell death programming and apoptosis.

Dr. Ye M, the lead scientist after taking other factors into account wrote, " lycopene induced the upregulation of the pro‑apoptotic protein, B‑cell lymphoma‑associated X protein".

Taken altogether, lycopene may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of head and neck cancer, pending on the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of lycopene in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Lycopene inhibits the cell proliferation and invasion of human head and necksquamous cell carcinoma by Ye M1, Wu Q1, Zhang M1, Huang J. (PubMed)
(2) Levels of fat-soluble micronutrients and 2,6-cyclolycopene-1,5-diol in head and neck cancer patients by Djuric Z1, Ronis DL, Fowler KE, Ren J, Duffy SA. (PubMed)
(3) Diet and the Risk of Head and Neck Cancer: A Pooled Analysis in the INHANCE Consortium by
Shu-Chun Chuang,1,2 Mazda Jenab,2 Julia E. Heck,3 Cristina Bosetti,4 Renato Talamini,5Keitaro Matsuo,6 Xavier Castellsague,7 Silvia Franceschi,2 Rolando Herrero,8Deborah M. Winn,9 Carlo La Vecchia,4,10 Hal Morgenstern,11 Zuo-Feng Zhang,3 Fabio Levi,12Luigino Dal Maso,5 Karl Kelsey,13 Michael D. McClean,14 Thomas Vaughan,15Philip Lazarus,16 Joshua Muscat,16 Heribert Ramroth,17 Chu Chen,15 Stephen M. Schwartz,15Jose Eluf-Neto,18 Richard B. Hayes,19 Mark Purdue,9 Stefania Boccia,20,21 Gabriella Cadoni,22David Zaridze,23 Sergio Koifman,24 Maria Paula Curado,2 Wolfgang Ahrens,25Simone Benhamou,26 Elena Matos,27 Pagona Lagiou,28 Neonilla Szeszenia-Dabrowska,29Andrew F. Olshan,30 Leticia Fernandez,31 Ana Menezes,32 Antonio Agudo,33Alexander W. Daudt,34 Franco Merletti,35 Gary J. Macfarlane,36 Kristina Kjaerheim,37Dana Mates,38 Ivana Holcatova,39 Stimson Schantz,40 Guo-Pei Yu,40 Lorenzo Simonato,41Hermann Brenner,42 Heiko Mueller,42 David I. Conway,43 Peter Thomson,44Eleonora Fabianova,45 Ariana Znaor,46 Peter Rudnai,47 Claire M. Healy,48 Gilles Ferro,2Paul Brennan,2 Paolo Boffetta,49,50 and Mia Hashibe. (PMC)