Cancer is one of the most complicated diseases in present-day medical science. Yearly,
several studies suggest various strategies for preventing carcinogenesis. Furthermore, experiments
for the treatment of cancer with low side effects are ongoing. Chemotherapy, targeted therapy, radiotherapy
and immunotherapy are the most common non-invasive strategies for cancer treatment. One
of the most challenging issues encountered with these modalities is low effectiveness, as well as
normal tissue toxicity for chemo-radiation therapy. The use of some agents as adjuvants has been
suggested to improve tumor responses and also alleviate normal tissue toxicity. Resveratrol, a natural
flavonoid, has attracted a lot of attention for the management of both tumor and normal tissue responses
to various modalities of cancer therapy. As an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent, in
vitro and in vivo studies show that it is able to mitigate chemo-radiation toxicity in normal tissues.
However, clinical studies to confirm the usage of resveratrol as a chemo-radioprotector are lacking.
In addition, it can sensitize various types of cancer cells to both chemotherapy drugs and radiation.
In recent years, some clinical studies suggested that resveratrol may have an effect on inducing cancer
cell killing. Yet, clinical translation of resveratrol has not yielded desirable results for the combination
of resveratrol with radiotherapy, targeted therapy or immunotherapy. In this paper, we review
the potential role of resveratrol for preserving normal tissues and sensitization of cancer cells in
combination with different cancer treatment modalities.
The Principles behind Targeted Therapy for Cancer Treatment