Pregnancy and Cancer: Cellular Biology and Mechanisms Affecting the Placenta

Author(s)

Oliveira, Melina de Moraes Santos ^[1] ; Salgado, Carla de Moraes ^[1] ; Viana, Lais Rosa ^[1] ; Gomes-Marcondes, Maria Cristina Cintra ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol, Dept Struct & Funct Biol, Nutr & Canc Lab, BR-13083862 Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Document type: Review article
• Source: CANCERS; v. 13, n. 7 APR 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Simple Summary The main point of this review was to describe most of the mechanisms of the biology of trophoblast cells and neoplastic cells, which point out some similarities between them and the way in which both complex metabolic states could interfere with each other. We show the need for more studies about cancer during pregnancy. In addition, the magnitude of how tumour factors can interfere with the course of pregnancy and affect the foetus's nutrition and health is the most important point that should be studied to better understand and improve treatment for this complex condition. In this context, we have highlighted the importance of maternal nutritional supplementation with leucine, a branched-chain amino acid that improves the placenta's metabolism and protects the mother and foetus against the harmful effects of cancer during pregnancy. Cancer during pregnancy is rarely studied due to its low incidence (1:1000). However, as a result of different sociocultural and economic changes, women are postponing pregnancy, so the number of pregnant women with cancer has been increasing in recent years. The importance of studying cancer during pregnancy is not only based on maternal and foetal prognosis, but also on the evolutionary mechanisms of the cell biology of trophoblasts and neoplastic cells, which point out similarities between and suggest new fields for the study of cancer. Moreover, the magnitude of how cancer factors can affect trophoblastic cells, and vice versa, in altering the foetus's nutrition and health is still a subject to be understood. In this context, the objective of this narrative review was to show that some researchers point out the importance of supplementing branched-chain amino acids, especially leucine, in experimental models of pregnancy associated with women with cancer. A leucine-rich diet may be an interesting strategy to preserve physiological placenta metabolism for protecting the mother and foetus from the harmful effects of cancer during pregnancy. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 18/20637-7 - Evaluation of the effects of nutritional supplementation with leucine on the placental activity of Walker 256 tumour-bearing rats during pregnancy evolution
• Grantee: Carla de Moraes Salgado
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• FAPESP's process: 17/02739-4 - Nutrition and cancer: study of molecular, proteomic and metabolomic aspects of experimental model of cachexia
• Grantee: Maria Cristina Cintra Gomes Marcondes
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 15/21890-0 - Effect of leucine, ketogenic and combined diets in tumor growth, cachectic state and metabolomic systemic profile, muscle and tumor in rats with cancer cachexia (Walker 256 model)
• Grantee: Laís Rosa Viana
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral