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Eating pomegranates or drinking pomegranate juice may help prevent and slow the growth of some types of breast cancer. A new study shows a group of phytochemicals called ellagitannins found in abundance in pomegranates inhibited the growth of estrogen-responsive breast cancer in laboratory tests. "Phytochemicals suppress estrogen production that prevents the proliferation of breast cancer cells and the growth of estrogen-responsive tumors," researcher Shiuan Chen, Ph.D., director of the Division of Tumor Cell Biology and co-leader of the Breast Cancer Research Program at City of Hope in Duarte, Calif., says in a news release. Researchers say the ellagitannins in pomegranates work by inhibiting aromatase, which is a key enzyme used by the body to make estrogen and plays a key role in breast cancer growth. "We were surprised by our findings," Chen says. "We previously found other fruits, such as grapes, to be capable of the inhibition of aromatase. But the phytochemicals in pomegranates and in grapes are different." Researchers say pomegranates have recently been hailed for their potential anti-cancer and heart healthy benefits thanks to their high antioxidant content. But they say this is the first study to look at their effects on aromatase and breast cancer growth. In the study, published in Cancer Prevention Research, researchers examined the impact of 10 ellagitannin-derived compounds from pomegranates on aromatase activity and breast cancer cell growth in laboratory tests. The results showed that of those 10 compounds, urolithin B most significantly inhibited breast cancer cell growth. Experts say further studies will be needed to determine whether eating or drinking pomegranate-derived products will have the same effect in humans, but these results are promising. Until then, researchers say people may consider eating more pomegranates to protect against cancer in the breast and perhaps other tissues and organs. Copyright© WebMD Health News
Researchers at Drexel University College of Medicine have discovered that a certain type of sugar found naturally in the body is elevated in breast cancer cells and is critical for cancer growth and movement. When researchers reduced and normalized the levels of this sugar, they were able to slow the growth of the cancer cells and block invasion. The findings, published in the March 1 issue of Oncogene, represent a potential new therapeutic target for treating aggressive forms of breast cancer. Scientists have known for years that cancer cells are addicted to sugar. Compared to neighboring normal cells, cancer cells take up nearly 10 times more sugar. The cancer cells use the increased sugar levels to fuel rapid cell growth and spread. The Drexel researchers studied a particular sugar-based protein modification known as O-GlcNAc. Alterations in this modification have been linked previously to diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease, but not to cancer. “This sugar, O-GlcNAc, is used inside cells to tag proteins and alter their function,” said lead author Mauricio J. Reginato, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Drexel University College of Medicine. “We think this is a very exciting discovery because this may be one way that cancer cells use the increased sugar to regulate key pathways that control growth and invasion.” Reginato and his colleagues studied established cells from patients with estrogen-independent breast cancer, the most aggressive form of the disease, which does not respond well to current treatments. The researchers found that compared to normal mammary cells, all the breast cancer cells contained elevated levels of O-GlcNAc, as well as increased levels of the enzyme responsible for adding this sugar to protein. When they reduced the levels of the O-GlcNAc enzyme, or blocked its activity with a drug, they reduced the growth of breast cancer and also blocked the invasion. In addition, by reducing the enzyme levels, they also reduced levels of a protein known as FoxM1, which is known to play a critical role in controlling cancer growth and spread. The Drexel researchers and collaborators are now working to develop more potent chemicals to target the O-GlcNAc enzyme, a potential new therapeutic target for treating breast cancer and possibly other cancers.