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Abstract
The response of the body to a cancer is not a unique mechanism but has many parallels
with inflammation and wound healing. This article reviews the links between cancer
and inflammation and discusses the implications of these links for cancer prevention
and treatment. We suggest that the inflammatory cells and cytokines found in tumours
are more likely to contribute to tumour growth, progression, and immunosuppression
than they are to mount an effective host antitumour response. Moreover cancer susceptibility
and severity may be associated with functional polymorphisms of inflammatory cytokine
genes, and deletion or inhibition of inflammatory cytokines inhibits development of
experimental cancer. If genetic damage is the "match that lights the fire" of cancer,
some types of inflammation may provide the "fuel that feeds the flames". Over the
past ten years information about the cytokine and chemokine network has led to development
of a range of cytokine/chemokine antagonists targeted at inflammatory and allergic
diseases. The first of these to enter the clinic, tumour necrosis factor antagonists,
have shown encouraging efficacy. In this article we have provided a rationale for
the use of cytokine and chemokine blockade, and further investigation of non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs, in the chemoprevention and treatment of malignant diseases.