Lycopene Featured at AACR Conference

Lycopene Featured at AACR Conference

BOSTON--Six separate presentations featuring thecancer-preventive effects of tomatoes, lycopene and other tomato phytonutrientswere given at October's American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) meeting,reported New York-based Lycored/Biodar. Dr. Joseph Levy, a researcher from Ben-GurionUniversity in Beer-Sheva, Israel, and a conference attendee, noted the number ofstudies and scope of research being conducted on tomato phytonutrients indicatedan increasing awareness of their potential health benefits. Levy presentedresults of his own recent study, which indicated the various carotenoids foundin natural tomato extract (as Lyc-O-Mato, manufactured by Lycored/Biodar) mayprotect against the cancer-promoting effects of estrogens and phytoestrogens.

An additional presentation involving lycopene included a five-year clinicaltrial that showed a 50-percent reduction of liver cancer in patients consuming adaily regimen of Lyc-O-Mato (10 mg/d of lycopene plus other tomatophytonutrients) in addition to 10 mg/d of carotenes (30 percent alpha-caroteneand 60 percent beta-carotene), and 50 mg/d of vitamin E (as alpha-tocopherol).Another study indicated lycopene and astaxanthin inhibited human prostate cancercell proliferation, and researchers from Boston found lycopene's protectiveeffects against lung cancer may be through an ability to up-regulate IGFBP-3 (IGFbinding protein-3, which reduces levels of IGF-1 in the body that are associatedwith an increased lung cancer risk). This, in turn, may interrupt the signaltransduction pathway of IGF-1.