Definition: cancer

"Wine, pomegranate juice and cabbage contain substances that are effective against prostate cancer. This is suggested by three new studies conducted by three teams of American scientists.

The first study was conducted at the University of Birmingham (Alabama) Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology (1). Coral Lamartinière and her colleagues incorporated resveratrol, a substance already known for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and vasodilatory properties, into the diet of male mice. The result: thanks to this diet, the mice showed an 87% reduction in the risk of prostate cancer! And that's not all, as those who already had cancer developed a less severe form of the disease than their counterparts. The only problem is that the amounts of resveratrol needed to achieve an anti-cancer effect are much higher than those found in the two glasses of wine recommended daily for good health. According to the authors, you would need to drink a bottle a day to be protected.

Be that as it may, this study confirms the anti-cancer effect of resveratrol. Last year, the same team of researchers demonstrated that this substance was capable of reducing the risk of breast cancer.

The second study was conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) by Dr Navindra Seeram's team (2). They demonstrated that in mice fed pomegranate extracts, certain tannins called 'ellagitannins' were concentrated in the prostate. By grafting tumour cells onto mice, the researchers also showed that these tannins had the ability to inhibit the growth of cancer cells. "The tendency of ellagitannins to concentrate in prostate tissue and clinical data prove the anti-cancer potential of pomegranate juice," says Navindra Seeram. It has long been known that pomegranates are very rich in antioxidants and that consuming them could reduce the risk of heart disease, osteoarthritis and cancer. But until now, this protective effect was attributed to another type of antioxidant besides ellagitannin: punicalagin. Pomegranates are also very rich in vitamin C and folic acid.

The third study, this time epidemiological, was conducted on this cancer based on a four-year follow-up of 30,000 men by scientists at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland (3). The results confirm the protective effect of vegetables, particularly those of the cruciferous family, against prostate cancer. In fact, men who eat the largest amounts of broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, etc., have a 40% lower risk of developing an aggressive form of prostate cancer!

However, eating cauliflower and broccoli offers the lowest risk of cancer. Men who eat cauliflower more than once a week have a 52% lower risk, while those who eat broccoli more than once a week have a 45% lower risk. With more than 40,000 new cases reported each year in France (36.5 new cases per 100,000 men), prostate cancer is the leading cancer in men.

So don't hesitate: go green... and red!

1- SeeramNP, "Pomegranate Ellagitannin-Derived Metabolites Inhibit Prostate Cancer Growth and Localise to the Mouse Prostate Gland" Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Published online ahead of print, ASAP article, doi:10.1021/jf071303g.

2- Coral Lamartinière, Red Wine Compound Shown To Prevent Prostate Cancer, UBA website.

3- B. HayesRichard, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 1 August 2007.