POLYUNSATURATED FATTY ACIDS (PUFAs) AND GLIOMAS: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF EXPERIMENTAL, CLINICAL AND EPIDEMIOLOGICAL DATA.

SANDRONE SS; REPOSSI G; CANDOLFI M; EYNARD, ALDO R

NUTRITION

ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2014

0899-9007

Essentials fatty acids (EFAs) cannot be biosynthesized by the body, they are obtained from diet. These fatty acids and their metabolites have multiple physiological functions that are altered in tumor cells due to a decreased expression of d-6 desaturase, which is an essential step in their metabolism. In this way, tumor cells would be protected from the toxic effect caused by free radicals, one helpful product of EFAs metabolism. EFAs have been proposed to have therapeutic potential in the treatment of glioblastoma. Gliomas are the most common primary tumors of the central nervous system in children and adults. High-grade gliomas remain a therapeutic challenge in neuro-oncology because there is no treatment that achieves a significant improvement in survival. Novel therapeutic strategies that use EFAs for the treatment of gliomas have been assessed in cell cultures, rodent glioma models and human patients, with encouraging results. Here we reviewed the latest progress made in the field.