Chemoprevention: making it a success story for controlling human cancer

Cancer chemoprevention, based on recent successes both in the laboratory and the clinic, is being considered as a viable option for controlling the disease. This approach takes advantage of the long latency of the disease that offers numerous opportunities for intervention. Chemopreventive intervention caters to a defined population that is relatively at a higher risk for developing the disease with an objective to stop, reverse or slow down the progression of the disease. The strategy of slowing the progression of cancer through chemoprevention could be applicable to many cancers with long latency including prostate cancer. Although cancer chemoprevention has proven to be a successful strategy in animals its application to humans has met only with limited success. This review will debate various challenges associated with chemoprevention of cancer and discuss ways to overcome them.