Broccoli, Cabbage, Soy Found to Cut Cancer Risk

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Broccoli, Cabbage, Soy Found to Cut Cancer Risk

Broccoli, Cabbage, Soy Found to Cut Cancer Risk

Environment News Service, February 10, 2005

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2006/2006-02-10-09.asp#anchor7

 

WASHINGTON, DC, February 10, 2006 (ENS) - Some vegetables contain chemicals

that appear to enhance DNA repair in cells, which could lead to protection

against cancer development, say Georgetown University Medical Center

researchers.

In a new study published in the " British Journal of Cancer " and by the

journal " Nature " the researchers show that in laboratory tests, a compound

called

indole-3-carinol (I3C), found in broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage, and a

chemical called genistein, found in soy beans, can increase the levels of two

specific proteins that repair damaged DNA.

This study is one of the first to provide a molecular explanation as to how

eating vegetables could cut the risk of developing cancer, an association that

some population studies have found, says the study's senior author, Eliot M.

Rosen, MD, PhD, professor of oncology, cell biology, and radiation medicine at

Georgetown's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. " It is now clear that the

function of crucial cancer genes can be influenced by compounds in the things

we eat, " Rosen says.

" Our findings suggest a clear molecular process that would explain the

connection between diet and cancer prevention. " In this study, Rosen exposed

breast

and prostate cancer cells to increasing doses of I3C and genistein, and found

that these chemicals boosted production of the repair proteins BRCA1 and

BRCA2.

Since decreased amounts of the BRCA proteins are seen in cancer cells, higher

levels might prevent cancer from developing, Rosen speculates, adding that

the ability of I3C and genistein to increase production of BRCA proteins could

explain their protective effects.

The study was funded by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and the

National Cancer Institute and co-authors include Drs. Saijun Fan, MD, PhD,

Qinghui Meng, MS, Karen Auborn, PhD, and Timothy Carter, PhD.

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