Broccoli tegen en bij borstkanker*
Uit een Amerikaanse studie, weliswaar zowel met muizen als in het laboratorium blijkt dat de bioactieve stof,
sulforafaan uit broccoli
borstkanker kan voorkomen of behandelen door kankerstamcellen aan te pakken. Chemokuren werken niet op kankerstamcellen en daarom kan kanker
terugkomen of zich verspreiden. Het doden van kankerstamcellen is volgens wetenschappers de manier om kanker aan te pakken. Sulforaan is volgens eerdere studies al een goede voedingsstof om kanker te bestrijden. Uit deze studie blijkt dat het o.m. gebeurt doordat sulforafaan de kankerstamcellen aanpakt. De hoeveelheden sulforafaan die gebruikt werden zijn wel meer dan uit de gewone voeding gehaald kunnen worden.
(Een normale stamcel, overal in het lichaam zal er voor zorgen dat er net zoveel cellen bijkomen als dat er doodgaan. Celdeling, differentiatie en celsterfte zijn prachtig in balans. In de kankerstamcel is dat evenwicht verstoord: er komen meer cellen bij dan er afsterven. Wellicht draagt niet elke kankercel bij aan de groei van een tumor. Wetenschappers denken namelijk dat die rol is voorbehouden aan één zeldzaam celtype: de kankerstamcellen. Deze cellen fungeren als het ware als de motor achter tumorgroei.Als de kankerstamcellen uitgeschakeld kunnen worden heeft kanker geen mogelijkheid zich te ontwikkelen.)
Broccoli Component Could Help Prevent Or Treat Breast Cancer
A compound derived from broccoli could help prevent or treat breast cancer by targeting cancer stem cells -- the small number of cells that fuel a tumor's growth -- according to a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The study tested sulforaphane, a component of broccoli and broccoli sprouts, in both mice and cell cultures. Researchers found sulforaphane targeted and killed the cancer stem cells and prevented new tumors from growing.
"Sulforaphane has been studied previously for its effects on cancer, but this study shows that its benefit is in inhibiting the breast cancer stem cells. This new insight suggests the potential of sulforaphane or broccoli extract to prevent or treat cancer by targeting the critical cancer stem cells," says study author Duxin Sun, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the U-M College of Pharmacy and a researcher with the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Results of the study appear in Clinical Cancer Research.
Current chemotherapies do not work against cancer stem cells, which is why cancer recurs and spreads. Researchers believe that eliminating the cancer stem cells is key to controlling
cancer.
In the current study, researchers took mice with breast cancer and injected varying concentrations of sulforaphane from the broccoli extract. Researchers then used several established methods to assess the number of cancer stem cells in the tumors. These measures showed a marked decrease in the cancer stem cell population after treatment with sulforaphane, with little effect on the normal cells. Further, cancer cells from mice treated with sulforaphane were unable to generate new tumors. The researchers then tested sulforaphane on human breast cancer cell cultures in the lab, finding similar decreases in the cancer stem cells.
"This research suggests a potential new treatment that could be combined with other compounds to target breast cancer stem cells. Developing treatments that effectively target the cancer stem cell population is essential for improving outcomes," says study author Max S. Wicha, M.D., Distinguished Professor of Oncology and director of the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The concentrations of sulforaphane used in the study were higher than what can be achieved by eating broccoli or broccoli sprouts. Prior research suggests the concentrations needed to impact cancer can be absorbed by the body from the broccoli extract, but side effects are not known. While the extract is available in capsule form as a supplement, concentrations are unregulated and will vary.
This work has not been tested in patients, and patients are not encouraged to add sulforaphane supplements to their diet at this time.
Researchers are currently developing a method to extract and preserve sulforaphane and will be developing a clinical trial to test sulforaphane as a prevention and treatment for breast cancer. No clinical trial is currently available.
Breast cancer statistics: 194,280 Americans will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and 40,610 will die from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society
Additional authors: Yanyan Li, Tao Zhang, Hasan Korkaya, Suling Liu, Hsiu-Fang Lee, Bryan Newman, Yanke Yu, Shawn G. Clouthier and Steven J. Schwartz
Funding: National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute
Reference: Clinical Cancer Research, Vol. 16, No. 9; 2010
Source
University of Michigan Health System (Juli 2010)
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