Posts Tagged ‘free radicals’
Study finds Resveratrol serves as an anti-cancer agent
In January 2004, Drs. Simone Fulda and Klaus-Michael Debatin from the University Children’s Hospital in Ulm, Germany released a study with findings that resveratrol, a red wine ingredient, is a cancer prevention agent.
This study states that naturally occurring dietary compounds such as resveratrol have gained considerable attention as cancer preventative agents. Resveratrol is a potent sensitizer of tumor cells for induced tumor cell death.
A major problem in cancer therapies today is the resistance of many tumors to current treatments. Thus, current attempts to improve cancer survival will have to include strategies that specifically target tumor cell resistance. Apoptosis, the cell’s natural death program, plays a crucial role in regulating healthy tissue function. An imbalance in cell death and birth may result in tumor formation. Apoptosis in tumor cells is a key in successfully killing tumor cells with cancer drugs, radiation or immunotherapy.
Recently, naturally occurring antioxidant compounds present in diet and beverages, such as red wine resveratrol, have gained considerable attention because of their beneficial effects on health as cancer preventative and cardio protective agents. Among the resveratrol benefits reported anti-tumor characteristics have also been noted.
The doctors tested the anti-tumor activity of resveratrol on human tumor cells in this study. They discovered a new function of resveratrol by showing for the first time that resveratrol is a potent sensitizer for cellular natural death processes in a variety of tumor cells.