Tumor hypoxia has been attracting increasing attention in the fields of radiation biology and oncology since Thomlinson and Gray detected hypoxic cells in malignant solid tumors and showed that they exert a negative impact on the outcome of radiation therapy. This unfavorable influence has, at least partly, been attributed to cancer cells acquiring a radioresistant phenotype through the activation of the transcription factor, hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1). On the other hand, accumulating evidence has recently revealed that, even though HIF-1 is recognized as an important regulator of cellular adaptive responses to hypoxia, it may not become active and induce tumor radioresistance under hypoxic conditions only. The mechanisms by which HIF-1 is activated in cancer cells not only under hypoxic conditions, but also under normoxic conditions, through cancer-specific genetic alterations and the resultant imbalance in intermediate metabolites have been summarized herein. The relevance of the HIF-1-mediated characteristic features of cancer cells, such as the production of antioxidants through reprogramming of the glucose metabolic pathway and cell cycle regulation, for tumor radioresistance has also been reviewed.
© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Japan Radiation Research Society and Japanese Society for Radiation Oncology.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!