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In recent years, the health consequences of consuming retinoids (vitamin A and its isomers and derivatives) have raised both great hopes and concerns. On the one hand, decades of research into the retinoids' anticancer effects clearly demonstrates their protective role against some cancers. On the other, the psoriasis medication etretinate, a relative of retinol, is a teratogen and has been associated on rare occasions with the DEVELOPMENT of certain cancers, and the anti-acne retinoic acid isotretinoin (Accutane), may be as teratogenic as thalidomide.
The retinoids thus have a range of dramatic biological effects, and their anticancer properties have been the long- term focus of intensive research. One of the largest clinical trials under w…