Researchers at Colorado State University may have unlocked the secret to why drinking wine and eating grapes can fight colon cancer.
Scientists have known for years that compounds in grape skin and grape seed extract may prevent colon cancer cells from growing. But they haven’t known if the two compounds would work better together. Now, they do.
“Individually they are not as effective but together, even at low concentration, they can cause the cancer cells to self-destruct but they are harmless to healthy colon cells,” says Jairam Vanamala, assistant professor in CSU’s Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition.
The next step is to determine whether or not the combination also kills cancer stem cells. While the compound does kill most colon cancer cells, if cancer stem cells are left behind then colon cancer is more likely to reoccur.
The study was funded by the College of Applied Human Sciences Challenge Grant and the National Research Initiative Grant from the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture.
The study was published this week in the elite edition of frontiers in bioscience.