Delineating the Immunotherapeutic Potential of Vitamin E and Its Analogues in Cancer: A Comprehensive Narrative Review

Sep 21, 2026

Review article assessing how vitamin E and its natural isoforms (tocopherols and tocotrienols) and modified analogues may influence cancer immunotherapy. The narrative review frames cancer as driven by dysregulated proliferation and highlights limitations of surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, including toxicity and drug resistance. It organizes evidence across the seven-step cancer-immunity cycle, from neoantigen release and antigen presentation to T-cell activation and tumor cell killing, emphasizing immune modulation for anticancer responses.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Cancer-immunity cycle and immunotherapy overview

Vitamin E isoforms and rationale for review

Wiley BioMed Research International Volume 2024, Article ID 5512422, 11 pages [https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/5512422](https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/5512422) Review Article Delineating the Immunotherapeutic Potential of Vitamin E and Its Analogues in Cancer: A Comprehensive Narrative Review Nevvin Raaj Morgan , Premdass Ramdas , Saatheeyavaane Bhuvanendran , and Ammu Kutty Radhakrishnan Food as Medicine Research Strength, Jeﬀrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway, 47500 Selangor, Malaysia Correspondence should be addressed to Ammu Kutty Radhakrishnan; [ammu.radhakrishnan@monash.edu](ammu.radhakrishnan@monash.edu) Received 9 May 2024; Accepted 9 August 2024 Academic Editor: João S. Silva Copyright © 2024 Nevvin Raaj Morgan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Cancer is a disease resulting from uncontrolled cell division, which signiﬁcantly contributes to human mortality rates. An alternative approach to cancer treatment, such as cancer immunotherapy, is needed as the existing chemotherapy and radiotherapy approaches target the cancer cells and healthy dividing cells. Vitamin E is a plant-derived lipid-soluble antioxidant with numerous health-promoting beneﬁts, including anticancer and immunomodulatory properties. Vitamin E comprises eight natural isoforms: tocopherols (α, β, δ, and γ) and tocotrienols (α, β, δ, and γ) . While initial research focused on the anticancer properties of α-tocopherol, there is growing interest in other natural forms and modiﬁed synthetic analogues of vitamin E due to their unique properties and enhanced anticancer eﬀects. Hence, this review is aimed at outlining the eﬀect of vitamin E and its analogues at various steps of the cancer-immunity cycle that can be used to stimulate anticancer immune responses. Keywords: cancer immunity; immune modulation; tocopherol; tocotrienol; vitamin E 1. Introduction Carcinogenesis, also known as oncogenesis, is the process whereby normal cells in the body undergo transformation into cancerous cells that are characterised by their ability to proliferate uncontrollably and metastasise, leading to various pathological conditions [1] . Cancer is a genetic disease because the uncontrolled division of cells is caused by changes in the genes responsible for regulating cell growth. According to the current statistics, cancer ranks as one of the three leading causes of death globally. Overall, lung cancer, female breast cancer (BC), and colorectal cancer show the highest incidence in both genders, while lung cancer and female BC are the leading causes of cancer-related mortality in males and females, respectively. Moreover, it is estimated that there will be an increase of 77% in cancer incidence by the year 2050 compared to 2022 [2] . Hence, a comprehensive understanding of the cancer pathogenesis and continued research on eﬀective treatment options are vital to overcome this global burden. Surgical removal of tumours followed by radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy is the most commonly used cancer therapy [3] . However, radiotherapy and chemotherapy attack healthy cells, especially highly proliferative cells due to their inability to distinguish cancer and noncancer cells, resulting in unwanted toxicity [4] . Other than the lack of speciﬁcity and harmful side eﬀects, another challenge in chemotherapy is drug resistance that is caused by reduced drug uptake and increasedeﬄux of drugs by the cancer cells, calling for alternative treatments with better eﬃciency [5] . One of the most significant alternative treatment modalities in cancer treatment is immunotherapy, which involves inducing the immune system to generate anticancer immune responses. Common types of immunotherapy include passive transfer of monoclonal ant

FAQs

Why is cancer immunotherapy considered an alternative to chemotherapy and radiotherapy?

Chemotherapy and radiotherapy can damage healthy highly proliferative cells and may cause unwanted toxicity. Drug resistance further reduces effectiveness, so immunotherapy aims to generate anticancer immune responses with better targeting.

What is the cancer-immunity cycle described in the review?

The cycle is a sequential, self-propagating set of events that enables effective killing of cancer cells by the host immune system. It includes seven steps, progressing from neoantigen release to T-cell–mediated tumor cell killing.

How does vitamin E relate to cancer immunotherapy in this narrative review?

Vitamin E is discussed as a plant-derived lipid-soluble antioxidant with anticancer and immunomodulatory properties. The review focuses on how vitamin E and its analogues may affect multiple steps of the cancer-immunity cycle to stimulate anticancer immune responses.

Sep 21, 2026

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