Role of Coenzyme Q10 in Breast Cancer
摘要
Background: Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a biological quinone compound that has two major physiological activities, as an antioxidant and as a redox component in the respiratory chain. Those CoQ10 activities among others may be of importance for the prognosis and treatment of breast cancer, which is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women. Objective: The purpose of this study was to conduct a literature review to identify and assess the evidence of the effect of CoQ10 for the treatment of breast cancer as a supplement, and to establish the relationship between CoQ10 levels and breast cancer. Methods: In order to better understand the role of this coenzyme in breast cancer, an electronic literature search was conducted to identify all studies in which coenzyme Q10 was administered or measured in breast cancer patients. Results: Six studies were included in this literature review. A relationship between CoQ10 levels and the risk of breast cancer was established. In those studies where patients were supplemented with a daily dose of 100mg of CoQ10, resulted in increased antioxidant levels, decreased cytokines plasma levels and reduced cancer biomarkers. Discussion: CoQ10 acts as antioxidant in lipid peroxidation, helps regenerate antioxidant enzymes and decreases inflammation markers that contribute to proliferation, metastasis, cancer cell survival and angiogenesis. Conclusion: The effectiveness of CoQ10 administration to improve the tolerability or prognosis of cancer treatments has not been fully evaluated and larger randomized clinical trials are needed to determine the optimum dose of CoQ10. However, the recommendation about the use of CoQ10 should not be considered as poor medicine practice, considering that it is safe, and the studies described in this review have some trends that favor the use of this supplement.