Ginger, Green Tea, Fruit Extracts May Prevent Cancer 33873

Ginger, Green Tea, Fruit Extracts May Prevent Cancer

PHOENIX--Research findings presented at the secondannual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Research Preventionindicated green tea, ginger and fruit extracts have cancer-combating abilities.The conference, sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research (www.aacr.org),attracted more than 650 scientists and doctors from around the world to PhoenixOct. 26 to 30.

One study led by Ann Bode, research associate professor at the University ofMinnesota, Austin, concluded ginger may have the ability to slow colorectalcancer and be an effective chemopreventive and/or chemotherapeutic agent. Twentyathymic nude mice were fed 500 mg/d of [6]-gingerol, the active component ofginger, three times a week for two weeks and injected with human colorectalcancer cells at the beginning of the third week; tumor incidence was compared tocontrol mice. The first tumors appeared 15 days after injection, 13 among thecontrol mice and four among the mice fed [6]-gingerol. The study's authorsreported fewer and smaller tumors in the [6]-gingerol group versus the controlgroup. Tumors also grew faster and metastasized more in the control group.Further tests are planned to evaluate if [6]-gingerol can slow pre-existingtumors. The University of Minnesota has applied for a patent on the use of[6]-gingerol.

Green tea may also help prevent cancer, according to a study led by ImanHakim, M.D., Ph.D., from Phoenix's Arizona Cancer Center. Over a period of fourmonths, 118 smokers drank four cups of either green or black decaffeinated teadaily. Researchers measured levels of urinary 8-OHgD, a chemical the bodyreleases in response to oxidative DNA damage; those who drank green tea had a31-percent decrease in their urinary levels of OhdG, suggesting they were lesssusceptible to DNA damage. Green tea consumption has previously been associatedwith decreased risk of cancers, including breast, colon and lung.

The antioxidant found in grapes and red wine known as reservatrol "maybe useful for the prevention of UVB-mediated cutaneous damages, including skincancer," according to a study led by Nihal Ahmad, assistant professor ofdermatology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. A topical form ofreservatrol was applied to the backs of hairless mice, after which they weresubjected to ultraviolet (UV) radiation; the treated mice had significantly lesscutaneous damage caused by UV radiation. Another study from the same universitytested pomegranate fruit extract (PFE, which contains high levels ofantioxidants) and its ability to prevent the chemical TPA (a marker of skintumor promotion) from damaging the skin of newborn mice. Mice treated with PFEhad significantly less swollen and less overgrown skin cells than mice without.By week 16, all control mice had developed tumors, whereas only 30 percent ofthe PFE treated group had.