Abstract In 2013, 60 scientists, representing a larger group of 174 scientists from 26 nations, met in Halifax, Nova Scotia to consider whether – using published research – it was logical to anticipate that a mixture of chemicals, each thought to be non-carcinogenic, might act together in that mixture as a virtual carcinogen. The group identified 89 such chemicals, each one affecting one or more Hallmark(s) – collectively covering all Hallmarks of Cancer – confirming the possibility that a chemical mixture could induce all the Hallmarks and function as a virtual carcinogen, thereby supporting the concern that chemical safety research that does not evaluate mixtures, is incomplete. Based on these observations, the Halifax Project developed the Low-Dose Carcinogenesis Hypothesis which posits "…that low-dose exposures to [mixtures of] disruptive chemicals that are not individually carcinogenic may be capable of instigating and/or enabling carcinogenesis." Although testing all possible combinations of over 80,000 chemicals of commerce would be impractical, prudence requires designing a methodology to test whether low-dose chemical mixtures might be carcinogenic. As an initial step toward testing this hypothesis, we conducted a mini review of published empirical observations of biological exposures to chemical mixtures to assess what empirical data exists on which to base future research. We reviewed studies on chemical mixtures with the criteria that the studies reported both different concentrations of chemicals and mixtures composed of different chemicals. We found a paucity of research on this important question. The majority of studies reported hormone related processes and used chemical concentrations selected to facilitate studying how mixtures behave in experiments that were often removed from clinical relevance, i.e., chemicals were not studied at human-relevant concentrations. New research programs must be envisioned to enable study of how mixtures of small doses of chemicals affect human health, starting, when at all possible, from non-malignant specimens when studies are done in vitro. This research should use human relevant concentrations of chemicals, expand research beyond the historic focus on endocrine endpoints and endocrine related cancers, and specifically seek effects that arise uniquely from exposure to chemical mixtures at human-relevant concentrations.
In: Heindel , J J , Howard , S , Agay-Shay , K , Arrebola , J P , Audouze , K , Babin , P J , Barouki , R , Bansal , A , Blanc , E , Cave , M C , Chatterjee , S , Chevalier , N , Choudhury , M , Collier , D , Connolly , L , Coumoul , X , Garruti , G , Gilbertson , M , Hoepner , L A , Holloway , A C , Howell , G , Kassotis , C D , Kay , M K , Kim , M J , Lagadic-Gossmann , D , Langouet , S , Legrand , A , Li , Z , Le Mentec , H , Lind , L , Lind , P M , Lustig , R H , Martin-Chouly , C , Munic Kos , V , Podechard , N , Roepke , T A , Sargis , R M , Starling , A , Tomlinson , C R , Touma , C , Vondracek , J , vom Saal , F & Blumberg , B 2022 , ' Corrigendum to "Obesity II: Establishing causal links between chemical exposures and obesity" [Biochem. Pharmacol. 199 (2022) 115015] (Biochemical Pharmacology (2022) 199, (S0006295222001095), (10.1016/j.bcp.2022.115015)) ' , Biochemical Pharmacology , vol. 202 , 115144 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bcp.2022.115144
The authors of the above paper would like to make readers aware that two authors inadvertently failed to cite support from a key grant that supported a part of the research presented in this Review. Bruce Blumberg and Vesna Munic Kos would like to add the following funding source to their list of funders. The correct wording, as it should have appeared, is below: "This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement GOLIATH No. 825489." The authors apologise for this omission.
Targeted therapies and the consequent adoption of "personalized" oncology have achieved notable successes in some cancers; however, significant problems remain with this approach. Many targeted therapies are highly toxic, costs are extremely high, and most patients experience relapse after a few disease-free months. Relapses arise from genetic heterogeneity in tumors, which harbor therapy-resistant immortalized cells that have adopted alternate and compensatory pathways (i.e., pathways that are not reliant upon the same mechanisms as those which have been targeted). To address these limitations, an international task force of 180 scientists was assembled to explore the concept of a low-toxicity "broadspectrum" therapeutic approach that could simultaneously target many key pathways and mechanisms. Using cancer hallmark phenotypes and the tumor microenvironment to account for the various aspects of relevant cancer biology, interdisciplinary teams reviewed each hallmark area and nominated a wide range of high-priority targets (74 in total) that could be modified to improve patient outcomes. For these targets, corresponding low-toxicity therapeutic approaches were then suggested, many of which were phytochemicals. Proposed actions on each target and all of the approaches were further reviewed for known effects on other hallmark areas and the tumor microenvironment Potential contrary or procarcinogenic effects were found for 3.9% of the relationships between targets and hallmarks, and mixed evidence of complementary and contrary relationships was found for 7.1%. Approximately 67% of the relationships revealed potentially complementary effects, and the remainder had no known relationship. Among the approaches, 1.1% had contrary, 2.8% had mixed and 62.1% had complementary relationships. These results suggest that a broad-spectrum approach should be feasible from a safety standpoint. This novel approach has potential to be relatively inexpensive, it should help us address stages and types of cancer that lack conventional treatment, and it may reduce relapse risks. A proposed agenda for future research is offered. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. ; Funding Agencies|Terry Fox Foundation Grant [TF-13-20]; UAEU Program for Advanced Research (UPAR) [31S118]; NIH [AR47901, R21CA188818, R15 CA137499-01, F32CA177139, P20RR016477, P20GM103434, R01CA170378, U54CA149145, U54CA143907, R01-HL107652, R01CA166348, R01GM071725, R01 CA109335-04A1, 109511R01CA151304CA168997 A11106131R03CA1711326 1P01AT003961RO1 CA100816P01AG034906 R01AG020642P01AG034906-01A1R01HL108006]; NIH NRSA Grant [F31CA154080]; NIH (NIAID) R01: Combination therapies for chronic HBV, liver disease, and cancer [AI076535]; Sky Foundation Inc. 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NIH Intramural Research Program; National Science Foundation; American Cancer Society; National Cancer Center [NCC-1310430-2]; National Research Foundation [NRF-2005-0093837]; Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund Grant [80028595]; Lustgarten Fund Grant [90049125, NIHR21CA169757]; Alma Toorock Memorial for Cancer Research; National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF); Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (MSIP), Republic of Korea [2011-0017639, 2011-0030001]; Ministry of Education of Taiwan [TMUTOP103005-4]; International Life Sciences Institute; United States Public Health Services Grants [NIH R01CA156776]; VA-BLR&D Merit Review Grant [5101-BX001517-02]; V Foundation; Pancreatic Cancer Action Network; Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation; Childrens Cancer Institute Australia; University Roma Tre; Italian Association for Cancer Research (AIRC-Grant) [IG15221]; Carlos III Health Institute; Feder funds [AM: CP10/00539, PI13/02277]; Basque Foundation for Science (IKERBASQUE); 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ARIMMORA project [FP7-ENV-2011]; European Union; NIH NIDDK [K01DK077137, R03DK089130]; NIH NCI grants [R01CA131294, R21 CA155686]; Avon Foundation; Breast Cancer Research Foundation Grant [90047965]; National Institute of Health, NINDS Grant [K08NS083732]; AACR-National Brain Tumor Society Career Development Award for Translational Brain Tumor Research [13-20-23-SIEG]; Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, India [SR/FT/LS-063/2008]; Yorkshire Cancer Research; Wellcome Trust, UK; Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance Project CAMPUS-QUARC, within program FESR Campania Region; National Cancer Institute [5P01CA073992]; IDEA Award from the Department of Defense [W81XWH-12-1-0515]; Huntsman Cancer Foundation; University of Miami Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Pilot Research Grant [CTSI-2013-P03]; SEEDS You Choose Awards; DoD [W81XVVH-11-1-0272, W81XWH-13-1-0182]; Kimmel Translational Science Award [SKF-13-021]; ACS Scholar award [122688-RSG-12-196-01-TBG]; National Cancer Institute, Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Pew Charitable Trusts; 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Pardee Foundation; Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Oversea Scholars, State Education Ministry and Scientific and Technological Innovation Project, Harbin [2012RFLX5011]; United States National Institutes of Health [ES019458]; California Breast Cancer Research Program [17UB-8708]; National Institutes of Health through the RCMI-Center for Environmental Health [G1200MD007581]; NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Training Grant [T32HL098062]; European FP7-TuMIC [HEALTH-F2-2008-201662]; Italian Association for Cancer research (AIRC) Grant IG [11963]; Regione Campania L.R:N.5; European National Funds [PON01-02388/1 2007-2013]