News source
11 October 2006
NEW CANCER PILL MADE OF CABBAGE
Humble veg may fight breast tumours
By Mike Swain, Science Editor
A PILL made from cabbages could soon be joining the fight against breast cancer.
Tests have shown molecules in the vegetable can kill tumour cells. Refined into pill form, they could be combined with traditional anti-cancer treatments.
Researchers are also trying to find out whether vegetable molecules could also help fight other tumours.
Cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and kale are already believed to have a direct effect on destroying cancer cells.
Prof Margaret Manson, of the University of Leicester, said the vegetable molecule, called I3C, stopped the growth of several different types of breast cancer.
Used in combination with existing anticancer drugs, I3C killed breast tumour cells more effectively than the drugs taken on their own.
The next step will be to try the cabbage molecules with high-profile cancer drugs such as Herceptin.
Prof Manson told the National Cancer Research Institute conference in Birmingham that you would have to eat dozens of cabbages to have a similar effect.
But I3C in a pill form was "an area of research gaining in popularity".
He added: "It doesn't always work. There are different types of breast cancer cells. We hope the journey to clinical trials will be relatively straightforward."
Dr Sheila Bingham, of Cambridge University, said: "Food can be important in altering our susceptibility to cancer and possibly survival from it."
m.swain@mirror.co.uk
