Drink pomegranate juice, avoid prostrate cancer
Published: September 27, 2005
The juice of the pomegranate, say researchers at University of Wisconsin Medical School, shows major promise to combat prostate cancer - the most common invasive cancer and the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in American men.
“Our study adds to growing evidence that pomegranates contain very powerful agents against cancer, particularly prostate cancer,” says lead author Dr Hasan Mukhtar, professor of dermatology at the Medical School. “There is good reason now to test this fruit in humans - both for cancer prevention and for treatment.” Earlier research at Wisconsin and elsewhere has shown that the pomegranate, a fruit native to the Middle East, is rich in anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activity and is effective against tumours in mouse skin.
In fact, pomegranate juice has higher anti-oxidant activity than red wine and green tea.
Using human prostate cancer cells, the team first evaluated the fruit extract’s effect, at various doses, on those cells cultured in laboratory dishes. They found a “dose-dependent” effect - the higher the dose of pomegranate extract the cells received, the more cells died.
The research team then progressed to tests in mice that had been injected with prostate cancer cells from humans and developed malignancies. Mice receiving higher concentration of pomegranate extract showed significant slowing of their cancer progression and a decrease in the levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a marker used to indicate the presence of prostate cancer in humans.
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: