[Bio-chemoprevention of cancer]

Bio-chemoprevention of cancer is a new concept for cancer prevention. As the prototype, we address the possibility of gene transfer and expression of crtB gene, encoding the enzyme which converts geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate to phytoene. The effective production of phytoene was shown by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in crtB transfected cells, and their ability to withstand lipid peroxidation was demonstrated against an experimentally-induced oxidative stress. The endogenous synthesis of phytoene resulted in suppression of the malignant transformation process. This study has laid the groundwork for the future development of a genetic chemopreventive method for carcinogenesis.