RED WINE FIGHTS PROSTATE CANCER

Cheers to this news! Red wine could be a major key to fighting prostate cancer. Researchers from the University of Missouri have discovered that it can make prostate tumor cells more susceptible to radiation treatment, increasing the chances of a full recovery from all types of prostate cancer, including aggressive tumors. “Other studies have noted that resveratrol made tumor cells more susceptible to chemotherapy, and we wanted to see if it had the same effect for -radiation therapy,” said Professor Michael Nicholl. “We found that when exposed to the compound, the tumor cells were more susceptible to radiation treatment, but that the effect was greater than just treating with both compounds separately. Prostate tumor cells contain very low levels of two proteins, perforin and granzyme B, which can function together to kill cells. However, both need to be highly “expressed” to kill -tumor cells. In the study, when resveratrol was introduced into the prostate tumor cells, the activity of the two proteins increased greatly. Following radiation treatment, up to 97 percent of the -tumor cells died, which is a much higher percentage than treatment with radiation alone, Professor Nicholl found. Resveratrol is present in grape skins and red wine. However, the dosage needed to have an effect on tumor cells is so great that many people would experience uncomfortable side effects.