Retinoic acid (RA)-the active metabolite of vitamin A-and its analogues have pleiotropic effects on growth, differentiation, proliferation, and development. RA, and its analogues, determine embryonic pattern formation and inhibit tumor growth; however, they are also teratogens. There is a potential clinical use for retinoids in cancer prevention and treatment. RA has already been used as a cytodifferentiation drug in stabilizing cancer cells in acute promyelocytic leukemia. The biologic effects of retinoic acid are mediated by its retinoic acid receptors; to date, several acid receptors have been characterized. The presence of multiple receptors for one ligand helps explain the diverse biologic roles of retinoic acid and suggests that each type of receptor has a specific function.
|Original language||English (US)|
|Number of pages||4|
|Journal||American Journal of Surgery|
|State||Published - 1993|
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