Tomato-Broccoli Team Up to Fight Cancer

While compounds in both tomatoes and broccoli have been identified as potential foes of cancer, a new study shows that combining the two in the diet is better at shrinking prostate tumors than either alone.

The study, Combinations of tomato and broccoli enhance antitumor activity in Dunning R3327-H prostate adenocarcinomas, authored by Kirstie Canene-Adams, Brian L. Lindshield, Elizabeth H. Jeffery, and John W. Erdman Jr. of the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and Shihua Wang and Steven K. Clinton of The Ohio State University, Columbus, was published in the Jan. 15 issue of Cancer Research.

Researchers fed rats implanted with prostate cancer cells a diet containing 10% tomato powder and 10% broccoli powder. The goal was to compare the effects of eating the entire vegetable with consuming individual compounds as a nutritional supplement.

When tomatoes and broccoli are eaten together, we see an additive effect. We think its because different bioactive compounds in each food work on different anti-cancer pathways, says Erdman.

Other rats received tomato or broccoli powder alone, a lycopene supplement, or finasteride, a drug prescribed for enlarged prostates, and another group was castrated. After 22 weeks, the tumors were weighed. The tomato and broccoli combo outperformed all other diets in shrinking prostate tumors. The only treatment that was nearly as effective was castration, says Erdman.

To get these effects, men should consume 1.4 cups of raw broccoli and 2.5 cups of fresh tomato, or 1 cup of tomato sauce, or ½ cup of tomato paste daily, says Canene-Adams.

Erdman points out that cooked tomatoes may be better than raw tomatoes. Chopping and heating make the cancer-fighting constituents of tomatoes and broccoli more bioavailable.

Canene-Adams adds: When tomatoes are cooked, for example, the water is removed and the healthful parts become more concentrated. That doesnt mean you should stay away from fresh produce. The lesson here, I think, is to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables prepared in a variety of ways.

The study was funded by the American Institute for Cancer Research and USDA.