[Chemoprevention of lung cancer].

Abstract

Chemoprevention, or pharmacological intervention in healthy individuals at risk of developing cancer, is attracting attention as a potential tool in cancer prevention. Lung cancer, with its high incidence and poor prognosis, is a particularly interesting disease for these studies. The retinoids are a promising group of chemopreventive agents, since they are involved in growth control and are a necessary cofactor for proper activity of a protein receptor which we have shown to be a lung cancer suppressor. Nevertheless, the toxic side effects of retinoids at pharmacological dose present difficulties and current studies are aimed at determining the efficacy of various forms of retinoids and chemoprevention protocols in the target populations.