Garlic alters and kills human cancer cells

Nutrition Health Review, Wntr, 1995

A compound in garlic kills tumor cells grown from human colon, lung and skin origins.

Colon, lung and skin cancer are three of the most common human cancers. The finding that components of garlic can inhibit growth of these human tumors in laboratory culture was presented by Sujatha Sundaram, Penn State doctoral student in nutrition, at Experimental Biology '94, a meeting of six scientific societies.

Sundaram described how diallyl disulfide (DADS), an oil-soluble, sulfur compound present in processed garlic, depressed the growth of the human cancer cells or killed them.

"The bottom line is that DADS, a sulfur compound in garlic oil, is effective in inhibiting three types of human tumor cells," she said.

The studies follow others by Sundaram and Dr. John Milner, professor and head of the Department of Nutrition, published earlier in the journal Cancer Letters, revealing several of garlic's oil-soluble, sulfur compounds killed or markedly inhibited growth of breast tumor cells developed from a primary tumor in a dog's mammary gland.

"The difference here is that DADS is much more effective on human tumor cells than on those in a dog," Sundaram said. "Human tumor cells appear more sensitive to garlic's action."

Although the three types of human cancer cells tested grow at different rates, DADS is equally effective in its ability to inhibit them, Sundaram said.

"These studies also address the mechanisms by which garlic's sulfur compounds act," Milner said. "We're excited that garlic displays consistency in its ability to inhibit tumors across cell lines. Clearly these data demonstrate the benefits of DADS are not limited to a single tissue."

The studies also reinforce garlic's potential merit as an anti-carcinogen in either prevention or treatment, Milner said.