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Broccoli
Sprouts may protect against Bladder Cancer
Newswise — A concentrated extract of freeze dried broccoli
sprouts cut development of bladder tumors in
an animal model by more than half, according
to a report in the March 1 issue of
Cancer Research, a journal of the
American Association for Cancer Research.
This finding reinforces human epidemiologic studies that have
suggested that eating cruciferous vegetables
like broccoli is associated with reduced
risk for bladder cancer, according to the
study’s senior investigator, Yuesheng Zhang,
MD, PhD, professor of oncology at Roswell
Park Cancer Institute.
“Although this is an animal study, it provides potent
evidence that eating vegetables is
beneficial in bladder cancer prevention,” he
said.
There is strong evidence that the protective action of
cruciferous vegetables derives at least in
part from isothyiocyanates (ITCs), a group
of phytochemicals with well-known cancer
preventive activities.
“The bladder is particularly responsive to this group of
natural chemicals,” Zhang said. “In our
experiments, the broccoli sprout ITCs after
oral administration were selectively
delivered to the bladder tissues through
urinary excretion.”
Other cruciferous vegetables with ITCs include mature
broccoli, cabbage, kale, collard greens and
others. Broccoli sprouts have approximately
30 times more ITCs than mature broccoli, and
the sprout extract used by the researchers
contains approximately 600 times as much.
Although animals that had the most protection against
development of bladder cancer were given
high doses of the extract, Zhang said humans
at increased risk for this cancer likely do
not need to eat huge amounts of broccoli
sprouts in order to derive protective
benefits.
“Epidemiologic studies have shown that dietary ITCs and
cruciferous vegetable intake are inversely
associated with bladder cancer risk in
humans.
"It is possible that ITC doses much lower than those given to
the rats in this study may be adequate for
bladder cancer prevention,” he said.
Zhang and his colleagues tested the ability of the
concentrate to prevent bladder tumors in
five groups of rats.
The first group acted as a control, while the second group
was given only the broccoli extract to test
for safety.
The remaining three groups were given a chemical,
N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl) nitrosamine (BBN)
in drinking water, which induces bladder
cancer.
Two of these groups were given the broccoli extract in diet,
beginning two weeks before the carcinogenic
chemical was delivered.
In the control group and the group given only the extract, no
tumors developed, and there was no toxicity
from the extract in the rats.
About 96 percent of animals given only BBN developed an
average of almost two tumors each of varying
sizes. By comparison, about 74 percent of
animals given a low dose of the extract
developed cancer, and the number of tumors
per rat was 1.39. The group given the high
dose of extract had even fewer tumors.
About 38 percent of this high-dose group developed cancer,
and the average number of tumors per animal
was only .46 and, unlike the other animals,
the majority were very small in size.
The study was funded by the Vital Vegetables Research Program
of Australia and New Zealand, the National
Cancer Institute and the Roswell Park
Alliance Foundation.
The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research
is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in
1907, AACR is the world's oldest and largest
professional organization dedicated to
advancing cancer research.
The membership includes nearly 27,000 basic, translational,
and clinical researchers; health care
professionals; and cancer survivors and
advocates in the United States and more than
70 other countries.
AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer
community to accelerate progress in the
prevention, diagnosis and treatment of
cancer through high-quality scientific and
educational programs. It funds innovative,
meritorious research grants.
The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000
participants who share the latest
discoveries and developments in the field.
Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data
across a wide variety of topics in cancer
research, treatment, and patient care.
AACR publishes five major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer
Research; Clinical Cancer Research;
Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular
Cancer Research; and Cancer Epidemiology,
Biomarkers & Prevention. Its most recent
publication and its sixth major journal,
Cancer Prevention Research, is the only
journal worldwide dedicated exclusively to
cancer prevention, from preclinical research
to clinical trials.
The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors,
patient advocates, their families,
physicians, and scientists. CR provides a
forum for sharing essential, evidence-based
information and perspectives on progress in
cancer research, survivorship, and advocacy.
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