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Posted By Alan Peto on 08/23/2007
Source: www.lef.org The national meeting of the American Chemical Society was the site of a presentation on August 21, 2007, by Ajay P. Singh, PhD, and Nicholi Vorsa, PhD of Rutgers University of the finding that an extract of cranberries augmented the effect of platinum chemotherapy on ovarian cancer cell cultures. Platinum drugs such as Paraplatin are commonly used to treat ovarian cancer, however, cells develop resistance to the compounds, necessitating higher doses which increase side effects. Doctors Singh and Vorsa, along with colleagues at Brown University, treated cultures of platinum drug-resistant ovarian cancer cells with varying concentrations of an extract of a commercially available cranberry drink, and exposed them to Paraplatin. An additional group of cells was treated with Paraplatin only. They found that cells treated with cranberry extract became up to six times more sensitized to Paraplatin than those treated with the drug alone. A reduction in the growth and spread of some cancer cells was also observed in cultures treated with cranberry. The maximum amount of extract used was the human equivalent of a cup of cranberry juice. The researchers believe that A-type proanthocyanidins that are unique to cranberries may be responsible for the effects found in the study. Based on the findings of other research, the compounds appear to work by binding to and blocking tumor promoter proteins in ovarian cancer cells, rendering them more vulnerable to the effects of the drugs. They hope to identify the most active anticancer fractions in the cranberry extract as well as the optimal dose. “For the first time, we have shown in our in vitro studies that cranberry extracts can sensitize resistant human ovarian cancer cell lines,” Drs Singh and Vorsa noted. “This has opened up exciting possibilities for therapeutic intervention associated with platinum therapy.” —D Dye |
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