Cranberry Studied for Colon Cancer Prevention
Lee Swanson Research Update
Extracts from cranberry may prevent colon cancer via an anti-inflammatory mechanism, according to the results of a cell study from Canada.
Writing in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, Richard Narayansingh and Robert Hurta from University of Prince Edward Island report that crude extracts from cranberry, as well as one of the fruit’s major flavonoid compounds, quercetin, could decrease the expression of certain inflammatory processes linked to colon cancer.
"Our results are the first to suggest that a possible mechanism involved in anti-cancer activity of crude cranberry and quercetin is partly mediated through its anti-inflammatory action," wrote Naravansingh and Hurta.
Colorectal cancer is the third most diagnosed cancer in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society. About 150,000 new cases will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year, says the society, with an almost 50-50 split between men and women.
The Canada-based researchers performed a lab study using the human colon adenocarcinoma cell line HT-29 and exposed the cells to different doses of crude cranberry extract or quercetin. The expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), an enzyme that is linked to the inflammatory process, was subsequently measured, along with other variables.
Narayansingh and Hurta report that both the cranberry extract and quercetin decreased the expression of COX-2. Moreover, the researchers noted a decrease of COX-2 expression in cells stimulated with a compound that promotes tumors.
"These findings are important because they demonstrate that the F-kB signaling pathway provides a potential mechanistic link between inflammation and cancer and that the anti-inflammatory properties of crude cranberry extract or quercetin can be used to modulate this pathway," wrote the researchers. "Future studies on in vivo models of colon cancer will have to be carried out," they concluded.
Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 89(3):542-547, 2008
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