(19-06-10) Pomegranates reduce the risk of breast cancer

by David Gutierrez, staff writer


(NaturalNews) Regular consumption of pomegranate may help prevent breast
cancer, according to a study conducted by researchers from the City of Hope and
published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research.

Researchers tested 10 different naturally occurring pomegranate compounds, all
of them in the ellagitannin family of chemicals. They found that some of the
ellagitannins significantly reduced the activity of the enzyme aromatase in the
laboratory.

In the body, aromatase transforms the hormone androgen into the hormone
estrogen. Because 75 percent of breast tumors contain estrogen receptors and
use the hormone to fuel their growth, aromatase inhibitors are a popular form
of treatment for slowing the growth of breast tumors in post-menopausal women.

Pharmaceutical aromatase inhibitors include the AstraZeneca drug Armidex, the
Pfizer drug Aromasin and the Novartis drug Femara.

"We were surprised by our findings," researcher Shiuan Chen said. "We
previously found other fruits, such as grapes, to be capable of the inhibition
of aromatase. But phytochemicals in pomegranates and in grapes are different."

Of the 10 chemicals tested, urolithin B was the most effective at aromatase
inhibition. Researchers offered two caveats to their findings, however. First
of all, the body does not absorb ellagitannins into the blood very effectively
from the digestive tract. Second of all, the researchers tested very high doses
of the chemicals, much higher than those found in pomegranate. This suggests
that an actual pomegranate-based cancer treatment may still be far in the
future.

"We do not recommend people start taking this as a replacement for the
[aromatase inhibitors]," Chen said. "[Pomegranate compounds] are not as potent
as the real drugs so we think that the interest probably is more on the
prevention end rather than in a therapeutic purpose."

Pomegranate juice has been shown to be rich in a wide variety of antioxidants
that are believed to reduce the risk of not only cancers, but also other
chronic conditions such as Alzheimer's and cardiovascular disease.

Sources for this story include: www.reuters.com; www.webmd.com.

News

---

In evidenza

"L'informazione presente nel sito serve a migliorare, e non a sostituire, il rapporto medico-paziente."

Per coloro che hanno problemi di salute si consiglia di consultare sempre il proprio medico curante.