Red wine ingredient resveratrol stops breast cancer growth
Cheers! A new research report appearing in the October 2011 issue of The FASEB Journal (https://www.fasebj.org) shows that resveratrol, the “healthy” ingredient in red wine, stops breast cancer cells from growing by blocking the growth effects of estrogen. This discovery, made by a team of American and Italian scientists, suggests for the first time that resveratrol is able to counteract the malignant progression since it inhibits the proliferation of hormone resistant breast cancer cells. This has important implications for the treatment of women with breast cancer whose tumors eventually develop resistance to hormonal therapy.
“Resveratrol is a potential pharmacological tool to be exploited when breast cancer become resistant to the hormonal therapy,” said Sebastiano Andò, a researcher involved in the work from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Calabria in Italy.
To make this discovery, Andò and colleagues used several breast cancer cell lines expressing the estrogen receptor to test the effects of resveratrol. Researchers then treated the different cells with resveratrol and compared their growth with cells left untreated. They found an important reduction in cell growth in cells treated by resveratrol, while no changes were seen in untreated cells. Additional experiments revealed that this effect was related to a drastic reduction of estrogen receptor levels caused by resveratrol itself.
“These findings are exciting, but in no way does it mean that should people go out and start using red wine or resveratrol supplements as a treatment for breast cancer,” said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. “What it does mean, however, is that scientists haven’t finished distilling the secrets of good health that have been hidden in natural products such as red wine.”
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Receive monthly highlights from The FASEB Journal by e-mail. Sign up at http://www.faseb.org/fjupdate.aspx. The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) is published by the Federation of the American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2011. Over the past quarter century, the journal has been recognized by the Special Libraries Association as one of the top 100 most influential biomedical journals of the past century and is the most cited biology journal worldwide according to the Institute for Scientific Information.
According to a recent study published in the journal Cancer Research, the risk of breast cancer recurrence is increased by alcohol consumption, yet studies show that drinking red wine inhibits breast tumor growth. So what is it? Can we drink wine or can’t we? I don’t drink at all, but the promise of longevity and wellness that has been bandied about this week is tempting.
It appears that there is a naturally occurring chemical in wine that has the same effect on estrogen in postmenopausal women as aromatase inhibitors like anastrozole (Arimidex). Aromotase is the key enzyme in estrogen production (other than in the ovaries) in postmenopausal women. This chemical is not just from the juice of the grape but its production is dependant on the seeds and skin as well. White wine is made only from juice. There is some indication that the same benefits may be available from grape juice, but that is still being determined.
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Kathy-Ellen
FASEB comprises 24 societies with more than 100,000 members, making it the largest coalition of biomedical research associations in the United States. FASEB enhances the ability of scientists and engineers to improve - through their research - the health, well-being and productivity of all people. FASEB’s mission is to advance health and welfare by promoting progress and education in biological and biomedical sciences through service to our member societies and collaborative advocacy.
Red wine could help prevent breast cancer
Laboratory tests have shown that a chemical found in the skin of grapes could halt the development of most cases of the disease.
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women, and almost 45,000 cases are diagnosed in the UK every year.
Now scientists have found that a chemical called resveratrol, which is also found in blueberries, bilberries, cranberries and peanuts, can suppress the creation of tumour cells.
The chemical works by blocking the way that oestrogen combines with DNA in a woman’s bodies to create the cancer.
Researchers found that even low levels of resveratrol, the equivalent to that found in a typical glass of red wine, was enough to create the effect.
“We believe that this could stop the whole progression that leads to breast cancer down the road,” said Eleanor Rogan, from the University of Nebraska Medical Centre, who led the study.
The scientists now plan to test the findings, published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, in larger human trials.
Resveratrol has previously been linked to anti-aging properties.
The chemical is just one of a number of so called “healthy chemicals” found in red wine, called polyphenols.
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By Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent
Details: Francesca De Amicis, Francesca Giordano, Adele Vivacqua, Michele Pellegrino, Maria Luisa Panno, Donatella Tramontano, Suzanne A. W. Fuqua, and Sebastiano Andò. Resveratrol, through NF-Y/p53/Sin3/HDAC1 complex phosphorylation, inhibits estrogen receptor α gene expression via p38MAPK/CK2 signaling in human breast cancer cells. FASEB J. 2011 25:3695-3707; doi:10.1096/fj.10-178871 ; http://www.fasebj.org/content/25/10/3695.abstract
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