The red wine antioxidant compound "resveratrol" has once again been linked to significant health benefits. This time it is reduced prostate cancer risk. A University of Alabama study found that resveratrol reduced the risk of developing prostate cancer tumors by 87% in mice and also slowed the cancer's progression.1 The same team of researchers reported that resveratrol may also reduce breast cancer risk and progression in May of this yeat. This follows a 2006 study which found that resveratrol could reduce colon cancer risk by 67%, making this most recent finding all the more interesting.
In the study, the researchers fed male transgenic mice either a special diet enriched with resveratrol (625mg/kg of food) or a standard diet with no added resveratrol. Transgenic mice are genetically predisposed to getting prostate cancer. The researchers hypothesized that the resveratrol would exert a chemoprotective effect by means of the regulation of sex steroid receptor and growth factor signaling pathways. The researchers did determine that resveratrol affected a number of hormones and hormone receptors and "significantly inhibited cell proliferation." The mice experienced the greatest cancer-protection effect after seven months of consuming resveratrol.
A sub-group of mice in the study that developed a less-serious form of prostate cancer were subsequently given resveratrol. They were 48% more likely to have tumor growth halted or slowed as compared to those who did not receive the resveratrol.
Learn more about the potential benefits of resveratrol here.
1. Harper, C. E., B. B. Patel, et al. (2007). "Resveratrol Suppresses Prostate Cancer Progression in Transgenic Mice." Carcinogenesis.
