Lectin as an Anticancer Therapeutic Agent

Lectin as an Anticancer Therapeutic Agent

Vinuta Mane, Suresh B. Arakera, Shubhangi Pingle, Lucky Thakkar
Copyright: © 2022 |Pages: 14
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-9258-8.ch017
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Abstract

Every year nearly 9.6 million people die from cancer worldwide. One third of cancer deaths are due to behavioural and dietary risks and lack of physical activity. Lectins are powerful oral and parental immunogens and some of their physiological effects are intricately linked to interference with immune function. Lectins are produced by wide range of living organisms from microbes to mammals. They function as both allergens and heamagglutinins. Various lectins have been identified which are associated with different types of cancers. Because of this property, they are currently employed as therapeutic agents in cancer treatment.
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1. Introduction

Cancer is one of the most deadly diseases of the 21st century and will remain at a high peak in the future. Cancer is a disease in which the cells divide uncontrollably and can invade in nearby tissues. In normal situations, when the body requires, the cells grow and divide. When the cells become older or get damaged, they undergo programmed cell death (PCD) or apoptosis and the old cells are replaced with the new ones. This tidy process is distressed when new cells are formed when they are not needed and the aged cells do not die when they should die. These extra cells lump together to form a tumor (Gupta et al., 2011). DNA is found in every single cell in the body and controls all its activities. Cancer is instigated by damage to the DNA replication mechanism. The normal healthy cell is able to repair damaged DNA but is unable to do so in cancer cells and harm the cell when injured or damaged cells undergo uncontrollable cell division. They form lumps or masses of tissues called tumors. Tumors can be malignant or benign (Dhillon et al., 2011, Ferlay et al., 2014). In a malignant tumor, mutation and expansion lead to tumor growth and progression, ultimately it can break off the basal membrane barrier surrounding the tissues and spread to other regions of the body. The spread of cancer from one part of the body to another part is called metastasis (Klein, 2008). Benign tumors are not cancerous and can often be removed in most of the cases. Cells in benign tumors do not spread to other regions of the body.

1.1 What causes cancer?

The main cause of cancer is the transformation of normal cells that usually progress from a pre-cancerous cell to a malignant tumor in a multistage process. A person's genetic factors and environmental factors are responsible for this conversion. In the environment, various carcinogens are present which are responsible for the development of cancer which includes:

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    Physical carcinogens, such as non-ionizing and ionizing radiation

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    Chemical carcinogens such as cadmium, nickel, benzene, vinyl chloride, asbestos, aflatoxin (a food contaminant) and arsenic

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    Biological carcinogens such as viruses, harmful bacteria and a few parasites

It has been observed that the incidences of cancer increase with age. Examples of age-specific cancer are stomach, colorectal and pancreatic cancer. As a person gets older, cellular repair mechanisms become be less effective thereby increasing the risk of cancer.

1.2 Treatment

Significant efforts are being made by researchers for the identification of new cancer therapeutic agents from marine sources, plants sources, synthetic sources. The development of new formulations to enhance the therapeutic effects of existing anticancer agents with minimal side effects are also being studied.

In modern times, generally accepted treatment of cancer is surgery, cryosurgery, electrosurgery, bone marrow transplantation, hormone therapy, radiotherapy and chemotherapy (Fig. 1). Nowadays, various immune therapies and smart drug delivery systems, targeted drug delivery are also used for cancer treatment. Treatment of cancer depends upon the type of cancer, location of the tumor, assertiveness, phase of the disease and, the patient’s overall condition as well as illness of the patient. Treatment of cancer is a combination of surgery with chemotherapy and radiotherapy, or alone (Madhu et al., 2019).

Figure 1.

Cancer treatment therapies

978-1-7998-9258-8.ch017.f01
(Source:https://positivebioscience.com/types-of-cancer-treatment/)

Several therapies like hormone therapy, stem cell, surgery, immune therapy, radiation, chemo and targeted therapy are being used for the treatment of various types of cancer.

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