Compound in broccoli slows cancer cell growth

While sulforaphane has long shown evidence of value in cancer prevention, researchers at Oregon State University (OSU) and the Oregon Health and Science University suggested in a new study that it may play a role in slowing cancer growth as well, Xinhua reported.

The findings were the result of the first clinical studies to look at the effect of sulforaphane on breast tissues of women diagnosed with breast cancer.

Emily Ho, a professor at the OSU College of Public Health and Human Sciences, said: "Our original goal was to determine if sulforaphane supplements would be well tolerated and might alter some of the epigenetic mechanisms involved in cancer."

In a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial, 54 women with abnormal mammograms were given either a placebo or supplements that provided sulforaphane. The amount of sulforaphane they received would equate to about one cup of broccoli sprouts per day, if eaten as a food.

"We were surprised to see a decrease in markers of cell growth, which means these compounds may help slow cancer cell growth," said Ho. 

"This is very encouraging. Dietary approaches have traditionally been thought to be limited to cancer prevention, but this demonstrated it could help slow the growth of existing tumours. "

Previous studies have found that women with a high intake of cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage or kale, have a decreased risk of breast cancer. In particular, sulforaphane appears to inhibit histone deacetylases, or HDACs, which in turn enhances the expression of tumour suppressor genes that are often silenced in cancer cells.

In the new study published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, the intake of sulforaphane did reduce HDAC activity, as well as cancer cell growth.

As co-author of the study, Ho said it is possible that sulforaphane may be added to traditional approaches to cancer therapy, whether to prevent cancer, slow its progression, treat it or stop its recurrence.

Researchers said additional studies are needed to evaluate dose responses, work with larger populations, and examine the responses of other relevant molecular targets to either foods or supplements containing sulforaphane.

Pancreatic cancer: Know the warning signs!

Usually, pancreatic cancer doesn't give rise to any signs and symptoms until it's advanced. When the cancer grows, symptoms may include:

• Abdominal pain
• Jaundice (yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes)
• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss and weakness
• Indigestion
• Heartburn
• Back pain
• Diabetes
• Depression
• You must see a doctor if you experience unexplained weight loss or other symptoms that you think are abnormal.
  With no effective treatments currently available and the cancers growing quickly, there's an urgent need to develop new drugs to treat the deadly disease.
  In a latest, a team of researchers, including Indian-origin scientists suggests that nimbolide, a natural extract from the leaves of the neem tree, could potentially be used to treat the highly lethal pancreatic cancer.

New molecule to track cancer drug in the body

The researchers at The Ohio State University in US created a luminescent molecule, called a peptide and made up of two amino acids. Then they hitched that light to the cancer medication so that it showed the chemo's arrival within cells.

"This is very important for personalised medicine. We really want to see what's going on when we give chemo drugs and this work paves the way for the exciting endeavour," said Mingjun Zhang, a biomedical engineering professor who led the study.

Biomedical engineers strive to find techniques that behave naturally within the body and leave without doing harm.

This research holds promise for doing just that because the peptide is one that should easily coexist with human cells and leave as harmlessly as it entered.

"You can combine your drug with this luminescent vehicle. Composed of natural amino acids, the nanoparticle is inherently biocompatible," said Zhang.

In the body or tissue of an animal or person, scientists would watch the fluorescent signal with an optical detection system, he said.

Researchers sandwiched their peptide to a common chemotherapy drug so that its light was hidden until the two elements peeled apart upon entering the cells.

Zhang was particularly delighted to see that the blue peptide, which can be seen under ultraviolet light, maintained its luminescence for extended periods of time.

Previous work to track drugs using organic dyes has been hampered by their tendency to fade with time.

"You can label it and you can attach it to a drug and see where the drug goes and when it is released," Zhang said.

It could give patients and their doctors information on how well and how quickly a medication is working for them.

"Maybe for some people a drug is taking effect in a few minutes and for somebody else it's hours and for somebody else it never takes effect," Zhang said.

The research team used doxorubicin, a widely used chemotherapy drug, for their lab work, but the discovery could apply to different types of treatments, they said.

A study was published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.