Lycopene overview

With increasing interest in undertaking animal experimental and human clinical and intervention studies to evaluate the role of lycopene in cancer prevention, it is important that well-established molecular and clinical markers of cancer be used in these studies. In general, the main clinical end points used in animal and human experiments are the tumor burden and volume and survival rates. Now that our understanding of cancer pathology has advanced, several molecular events are beginning to be recognized and used in research to evaluate the outcomes from intervention studies. A brief overview of some of the more important molecular markers of cancer that can and should be used in future studies is presented in this section. 

This chapter provides an overview of lycopene bioavailability and the potential benefits of dietary lycopene on human health. Lycopene chemistry and its effect on functionality will be discussed, followed by the effects of processing on lycopene obtained from tomatoes. Finally, methods of analysis and of extraction from tomatoes are discussed. 

Krinsky, N. L, Overview of lycopene, carotenoids, and disease prevention. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine (1998) 218,95-97. 

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