Can Broccoli Cure Cancer?

A natural compound derived from certain vegetables such as broccoli has shown the ability to prevent cancer and may ultimately cure some cancers, according to researchers at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station of Texas A&M University (College Station, USA; www.tamu.edu).

Earlier research showed that chemically altered diindolylmethane (DIM) from broccoli could inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells in laboratory studies. Subsequent research showed similar compounds also inhibited the growth of pancreatic, colon, bladder, and ovarian cancer cells in culture. The Texas A&M investigators wondered if similar compounds could be developed for the treatment of cancer that had already developed. They explored how the compounds block cancer growth and found that they target PPAR gamma, a protein highly active in fat cells and overexpressed in many tumors and thus a potential target for new drugs

The researchers chemically modified "natural” DIM by adding a series of compounds that target the PPAR gamma and stop the growth of cancer. "One of the best parts is that this treatment appears to have minimal or no side effects in the mice trials. It just stops tumor growth,” said Dr. Steve Safe, a chemist at the Experiment Station who has been studying cancer for about 10 years.

Dr. Safe's patent has been acquired by Plantacor, a new biotech company headquartered in College Station (TX, USA), and the compound is expected to enter clinical trials soon in collaboration with M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston (TX, USA).




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