DNA repair pathways and cancer prevention

This article describes the five main classes of DNA repair processes that occur in humans with respect to their mechanism of action, major substrates, and role in protection against endogenous and environmental DNA damaging agents. The importance of all of these processes in protection from the initiation of neoplastic growth has been established either in studies of inheritable diseases affecting DNA repair or experiments with transgenic animals or both. The capacity of DNA repair pathways to deal with DNA damage is therefore a critical factor in the cellular response to environmental, and dietary carcinogens. DNA repair activity and factors affecting this activity either directly or indirectly must be taken into account in risk assessment.