Lycopene is a carotenoid nutraceutical that improves protection against cancer, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and neurodegenerative and inflammatory diseases.
This article aims to evaluate the benefits of lycopene supplementation in the prevention and treatment of cancer based on the results of scientific studies.
Due to its significant antioxidant potential that greatly surpasses that of ß-carotene and α-tocopherol, lycopene has gained significant attention in recent years.
Lycopene and cancer treatment: benefits
The anticancer effects of lycopene involve modulation of pathways that slow tumor growth and inhibit tumor progression.
The antitumor mechanisms of action of lycopene are:
- Antioxidant mechanisms including reduction of oxidative stress and its detrimental effect on cellular components such as lipids, proteins and DNA
- Non-oxidative mechanisms such as inhibition of cell proliferation, inhibition of cell cycle progression, induction of apoptosis (cell death), inhibition of cell invasion, inhibition of angiogenesis (formation of new blood vessels in the tumor) and metastasis.
These mechanisms of action of lycopene are related to the regulation of several signal transduction pathways, such as the PI3K/Akt pathway, modulation of the insulin-like growth factor system, suppression of sex steroid hormone activity, modification of relevant gene expression, and alteration of mitochondrial function. These new findings have suggested that lycopene acts as a promising natural pigment for integrative cancer therapy.
There is an inverse correlation between the amount of lycopene in blood and the incidence of different types of cancers, including prostate, lung, breast and gastric.
Some studies suggest that combining lycopene with conventional treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy may increase the effectiveness of these treatments and improve the body's response.
Lycopene can help reduce the side effects associated with chemotherapy and radiation therapy, such as suppression of the immune system and inflammation. In addition, lycopene may act synergistically with these treatments to inhibit the growth of cancer cells and promote apoptosis.
Scientific publications on apigenin in cancer treatment
- Lilly MB, Wu C et al. (2024) A phase I study of docetaxel plus synthetic lycopene in metastatic prostate cancer patients. Clin Transl Med. 2024 Mar;14(3):e1627. doi: 10.1002/ctm2.1627. PMID: 38515274; PMCID: PMC10958125.
- Zhou Y et al (2023) Lycopene suppresses gastric cancer cell growth without affecting normal gastric epithelial cells. J Nutr Biochem. 2023 Jun;116:109313. doi: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2023.109313. Epub 2023 Mar 4. PMID: 36871837.
- Kapała A, Szlendak et al. (2022).The Anti-Cancer Activity of Lycopene: A Systematic Review of Human and Animal Studies. Nutrients. 2022 Dec 3;14(23):5152. doi: 10.3390/nu14235152. PMID: 36501182; PMCID: PMC9741066.
- Alhoshani NM et al. (2022) Effect of lycopene as an adjuvant therapy with 5-florouracil in human colon cancer. Saudi J Biol Sci. 2022 Sep;29(9):103392. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2022.103392. Epub 2022 Jul 25. PMID: 35957702; PMCID: PMC9358465.
