Therapeutic Effects of Steroidal Compounds and Fatty Acids in Breast Cancer

Book Chapter

2025

Published in: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003128779

Breast cancer is ranked second among all other types of cancers worldwide in causing malignancy in women. The interesting chemistry of steroidal compounds was the motivation behind their extensive investigation in the past decades. Aromatase inhibition has taken over a dominating position currently as best option in post-menopausal and hormone-dependent breast cancer treatments. Steroid sulfatase (STS) plays a crucial enzymatic function in biosynthesizing active hormones (estrogen and androgen), thus it represents a class of extremely attractive molecular targets in the development of hormone-dependent breast cancer therapies. The dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have beneficial effects on inhibiting cancer development. Long-chain fatty acids minimize the toxicity and enhance tissue selectivity for in-vivo and in-vitro chemotherapeutic studies. Thus, modifications in fatty acids not only change the activity, but also increase their selectivity to unlock their factual medical potential. The PUFAs in combination with other anticancer drugs have shown remarkable improvements in breast cancer treatment. There are preponderant reports which recommended the consumption of an ω-3 PUFA-rich diet with reduced intakes of ω-6 PUFAs for chemoprevention purposes. Consequently, a slight modification in the dietary habits, particularly in terms of fat consumed, could be a good strategy against breast cancer.

• Publisher Name: CRC Press