Vegetable Extract Shows Promise in Preventing Breast Cancer

Vegetable Extract Shows Promise in Preventing Breast Cancer

BOSTON--According to researchers who presented atthe American Chemical Society's (http://chemistry.org)annual meeting here in mid-August, an extract found in broccoli, cabbage andbrussels sprouts has shown promise in the fight against breast cancer. Inresearch led by Jerry Kosmeder, Ph.D., research assistant professor at theUniversity of Illinois, Chicago, it was found that 1 g/kg to 3 g/kg of oxomate,a synthetic analog of the vegetable extract sulforamate, inhibiteddimethylbenz(a)anthracene-induced lesions in Sprague-Dawley rat mammaries. (Asynthetic was used because high levels of sulforamate at 130 mg/kg were toxic tomice and rats.) Oxomate was found to raise breast-healthy levels of quinonereductase and glutathione, both of which act as antioxidants. The researchersconcluded the extract significantly reduced adenocarcinoma multiplicity (a typeof malignant cell growth) by inhibiting tumor formation.

Kosmeder told INSIDER that the vegetable and syntheticextracts may prevent breast cancer induced by carcinogens. "There is noevidence or suggestion they could treat existing breast cancer," he said."We have evidence that [the vegetable extract] and oxolate may be useful inpreventing skin, lung and colon cancers. Animal testing will be necessary to seeif this is true."