Berries curb cancer cells - Science Update - Brief Article

Agricultural Research, June, 2002 by David E. Wedge

Fruits and vegetables contain a wide array of compounds--phytonutrients--reported to have anticancer activity in cell cultures. And berries are reportedly rich in antioxidant phytonutrients. So researchers have been probing several berries, as well as muscadine grapes, for their ability to inhibit growth of cell lines originally cultured from breast and cervical tumors. Preliminary studies show that various extracts from raspberries, strawberries, and muscadine grapes cut growth of breast cancer and cervical cancer cell lines by more than half. The scientists are using various solvents and different parts of the fruit--such as juice, skin, and seeds. They then send samples to Dr. Lyndon Larcom at Clemson University in South Carolina for assays on the cancer cell lines.

Extracts from blueberries and blackberries weren't effective against the two cervical cancer cell lines tested, but they suppressed breast cancer cell growth--each fruit suppressing a different cell line. Specific muscadine grape extracts suppressed a third breast cancer cell line much more than they suppressed a line of healthy cells from the same donor. These findings deal with suppression of cancer cells in the second stage of development. The researchers are also assaying berry and grape extracts for their ability to prevent mutations. David E. Wedge, USDA-ARS Natural Products Utilization Research Unit, Oxford, Mississippi; phone (662) 915-1137, e-mail dwedge@ars.usda.gov.