Breast cancer cells destroyed by peach and plum extracts
Jun 14, 2010
(NaturalNews) Even the most aggressive types of breast cancer cells
couldn't stand up to treatments with peach and plum extracts. That's
the outcome of a natural fruit-derived treatment tested in the Texas
AgriLife Research Lab which resulted in cancer cells dying while normal
cells were not harmed at all.
"It was a differential effect
which is what you're looking for because in current cancer treatment
with chemotherapy, the substance kills all cells, so it is really tough
on the body," Dr. David Byrne, an AgriLife Research plant breeder and
scientist, said in a press statement. "Here, there is a five-fold
difference in the toxic intensity. You can put it at a level where it
will kill the cancer cells -- the very aggressive ones -- and not the
normal ones."
So what could be in peaches and plums (fruits
known as "stone" fruits because of their large, stone-like seeds) that
zaps even the most deadly breast cancer cells? In their study, which
was published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry
, Dr. Byrne and fellow AgriLife food scientist Dr. Luis
Cisneros-Zevallos concluded two phenolic compounds were responsible for
the cancer cell deaths.
Phenols are organic compounds that occur
in fruits. Slightly acidic, phenols are associated with the color,
smell and taste of specific fruits. In a statement to the media, Dr.
Cisneros-Zevallos explained that two specific phenolic acid components
-- known as chlorogenic and neochlorogenic compounds -- were
responsible for killing the breast cancer cells in the AgriLife study.
Although very common in fruits, stone fruits such as plums and peaches
are especially rich in these types of phenols.
In addition to
their successful research showing the stone fruit phenols killed breast
cancer cells, the research team also found that animal studies provided
even more evidence that the fruit extracts have power anti-cancer
properties. The compounds prevented cancer from growing in animals
given the fruit treatments.
As NaturalNews has reported,
researchers are zeroing in on how a host of phytonutrients in foods are
potent breast cancer fighters. For example, University of Michigan
(U-M) Comprehensive Cancer Center scientists recently discovered that a
natural component of broccoli and broccoli sprouts has the remarkable
ability to target cancer stem cells -- the specific cells responsible
for fueling the growth of cancerous breast tumors (http://www.naturalnews.com/028822_b...).
In addition, University of Missouri scientists have found that
curcumin, a popular Indian spice derived from the turmeric root, could
reduce the risk of breast cancer risk in women exposed to hormone
replacement therapy (HRT) (http://www.naturalnews.com/026674_c...).
For more information:
http://www.eurekalert.org/multimedi...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/...
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