Arachidonic acid metabolites are known to playa regulatory role in a
number of biological systems, in which they function as microenviron-
mental hormones and intracellular signal mediators. One of the most
exciting areas of research of these compounds is the one that studies
the relationship between prostaglandins and tumor cell growth and
function. In the last few years there has been an extraordinary
evolution of data on prostaglandins (and related compounds) and cancer.
This vol- ume is based on papers presented at the 1986 International
Confer- ence on Prostaglandins and Cancer organized by the Italian
National Research Council and the II University of Rome, and held in
Rome, Italy, in June, 1986. This Conference brought together oncologists
and specialists in the areas of prostaglandin chemistry, biochemistry,
pharmacology, physiology, cellular and molecular biology to overview the
actual state of knowledge on the role of eicosanoids in cancer and to
focus on the key questions that need to be answered. The picture that
comes out of this book describes a very complicated network of
interactions between arachidonic acid metabolites and different as-
pects of the complex phenomenon "cancer". Eicosanoids participate in
carcinogenesis initiation and promotion, and their relationship with
tumor promoters and growth factors is well established. During cancer
growth, different prostaglandins can have different roles in the
regulation of cell proliferation and differentiation and in metastasis
formation; meanwhile evidence is accumulating for a pos- sible use of
some of these compounds as antineoplastic agents.
