Oxidative stress induced by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin: An application of oxidative stress markers to cancer risk assessment of dioxins

Abstract

Dioxins are known to be a class of highly toxic and persistent environmental contaminants. Among them the toxicity of 2,3,7,8- tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) has been the most intensively studied, and it has been classified as a human carcinogenic substance by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Although the mechanism of carcinogenesis by TCDD is unclear, it is now considered to have act a cancer promoter. In this review, we discuss the ability of TCDD to induce oxidative stress in vivo, the mechanism of the oxidative stress induction, and how oxidative stress relates to the development of cancer. We then discuss the advantages of measuring the level of oxidative stress in people exposed to dioxins in epidemiological studies for cancer risk assessment. We also discuss several methods of measuring the level of oxidative stress in humans.