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BLACK RASPBERRIES SLOW CANCER BY ALTERING HUNDREDS OF GENES
Ohio State University ^ | Aug 27, 2008 | Unknown

Posted on 08/27/2008 8:52:40 AM PDT by decimon

COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research strongly suggests that a mix of preventative agents, such as those found in concentrated black raspberries, may more effectively inhibit cancer development than single agents aimed at shutting down a particular gene.

Researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center examined the effect of freeze-dried black raspberries on genes altered by a chemical carcinogen in an animal model of esophageal cancer.

The carcinogen affected the activity of some 2,200 genes in the animals’ esophagus in only one week, but 460 of those genes were restored to normal activity in animals that consumed freeze-dried black raspberry powder as part of their diet during the exposure.

These findings, published in recent issue of the journal Cancer Research, also helped identify 53 genes that may play a fundamental role in early cancer development and may therefore be important targets for chemoprevention agents.

“We have clearly shown that berries, which contain a variety of anticancer compounds, have a genome-wide effect on the expression of genes involved in cancer development,” says principal investigator Gary D. Stoner, a professor of pathology, human nutrition and medicine who studies dietary agents for the prevention of esophageal cancer.

“This suggests to us that a mixture of preventative agents, which berries provide, may more effectively prevent cancer than a single agent that targets only one or a few genes.”

Stoner notes that black raspberries have vitamins, minerals, phenols and phytosterols, many of which individually are known to prevent cancer in animals.

“Freeze drying the berries concentrates these elements about ten times, giving us a power pack of chemoprevention agents that can influence the different signaling pathways that are deregulated in cancer,” he says.

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“What’s emerging from studies in cancer chemoprevention is that using single compounds alone is not enough. And berries are not enough. We never get 100 percent tumor inhibition with berries, so we need to think about another food that we can add."

To conduct this study, Stoner and his colleagues fed rats either a normal diet or a diet containing 5 percent black-raspberry powder. During the third week, half the animals in each diet group were injected three times with a chemical carcinogen, N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine. The animals continued consuming the diets during the week of carcinogen treatment.

After the third week, the researchers examined the animals’ esophageal tissue, thereby capturing gene changes that occur early during carcinogen exposure. Their analyses included measuring the activity, or expression levels, of 41,000 genes. In the carcinogen-treated animals, 2,261 of these genes showed changes in activity of 50 percent or higher.

“These changes in gene expression correlated with changes in the tissue that included greater cell proliferation, marked inflammation, and increased apoptosis,” Stoner says.

In the animals fed berry powder, however, a fifth of the carcinogen affected genes – exactly 462 of them – showed near-normal levels of activity, when compared with controls. Most of these genes are associated with cell proliferation and death, cell attachment and movement, the growth of new blood vessels and other processes that contribute to cancer development. The tissue also appeared more normal and healthy.

Lastly, of the 462 genes restored to normal by the berries, 53 of them were also returned to normal by a second chemoprevention agent tested during a companion study.

“Because both berries and the second agent maintain near-normal levels of expression of these 53 genes, we believe their early deregulation may be especially important in the development of esophageal cancer,” Stoner says.

“What’s emerging from studies in cancer chemoprevention is that using single compounds alone is not enough,” Stoner says. “And berries are not enough. We never get 100 percent tumor inhibition with berries. So we need to think about another food that we can add to them that will boost the chemopreventive activities of berries alone.”

Funding from the National Cancer Institute supported this research.


TOPICS: Food; Health/Medicine; Science
KEYWORDS: cancer; health
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I have some raspberry bushes so I guess the local birds are cancer free.
1 posted on 08/27/2008 8:52:40 AM PDT by decimon
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To: decimon; Gabz; gardengirl

Weekly Garden Ping ... sort of.


2 posted on 08/27/2008 8:56:38 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: decimon


SWEET!
3 posted on 08/27/2008 8:57:27 AM PDT by Hegemony Cricket (Vigilantism will arise where the justice system is viewed as overly lenient and/or ineffective.)
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To: decimon

For those of us with Cancer, berries sound tame compared to the treatments offered by the medical establishment.


4 posted on 08/27/2008 8:59:45 AM PDT by devane617 (It's the media, Stupid)
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To: decimon

Another food to go with the berries?

How about drugs that specifically target the genes of interest that the berries helped identify? That seems more feasible than trying out different foods.


5 posted on 08/27/2008 9:01:30 AM PDT by allmendream (If "the New Yorker" makes a joke, and liberals don't get it, is it still funny?)
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To: Hegemony Cricket

Nah, nah, wrong berry.


6 posted on 08/27/2008 9:03:13 AM PDT by decimon
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To: All

bump


7 posted on 08/27/2008 9:03:47 AM PDT by Maverick68 (w)
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To: Hegemony Cricket

Not quite there. The article says “black raspberries” not blackberries.


8 posted on 08/27/2008 9:05:33 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (G-d is not a Republican. But Satan is definitely a Democrat.)
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To: allmendream
How about drugs that specifically target the genes of interest that the berries helped identify?

Do those drugs exist? If blackberries, or some extract, work as well as any prospective drugs then I'd go with the berries.

9 posted on 08/27/2008 9:07:27 AM PDT by decimon
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To: decimon

Interesting. Thanks.

This demonstrates how ridiculous it is when scientists claim to identify the “active component” of a food with thousands and thousands of compounds, not to mention the dynamic inter-relationships of those compounds, then test the “active component” against cancer and determine “it doesn’t work.”

Maybe it does work-—but only in its original biochemical context, not as a stand-alone chemical plucked out by scientists.


10 posted on 08/27/2008 9:11:19 AM PDT by fightinJAG (Rush was right when he said: "You NEVER win by losing.")
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To: defconw

Ping!


11 posted on 08/27/2008 9:12:31 AM PDT by cibco (defconw - "Where do I get me a pheasant?" I got you one dear... {;0))
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To: Blood of Tyrants

And blueberries ?


12 posted on 08/27/2008 9:15:19 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: decimon

I haven’t seen any so far this year.


13 posted on 08/27/2008 9:18:01 AM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Never heard of black rasberries only have seen red rasberries-where are black ones grown?


14 posted on 08/27/2008 9:22:45 AM PDT by LYSandra
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To: LYSandra
Never heard of black rasberries only have seen red rasberries-where are black ones grown?

According to my dictionary, in eastern North America. They are really more a deep purple.

15 posted on 08/27/2008 9:30:22 AM PDT by decimon
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To: LYSandra
The eastern black raspberry variety grew wild where I grew up in Vermont. In my opinion, they have *the* best flavor of any wild berry, bar none. Makes my mouth water just thinking about them....

They tended to have a shorter growing season than the other berries, and would dry out on the bush if they didn't get picked.

16 posted on 08/27/2008 9:33:19 AM PDT by RosieCotton
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To: RosieCotton

Interesting. I am in Montana so never heard of but love rasberries! Thanks for educating me.


17 posted on 08/27/2008 9:37:44 AM PDT by LYSandra
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To: decimon

Not yet, but the berries have shown some likely targets for a drug to act specifically upon.

The berries are not very efficacious in stopping cancer, but the genes response they elicit shows us “targets of interest” that may well work wonders when specifically targeted rather than being part of a broad response pattern.

The berries only work (and not berry well) because of specific compounds within them hitting specific molecular targets.


18 posted on 08/27/2008 9:41:01 AM PDT by allmendream (If "the New Yorker" makes a joke, and liberals don't get it, is it still funny?)
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To: devane617

I rather have my mother deal with berries than with peritoneal chemo :(


19 posted on 08/27/2008 9:48:43 AM PDT by cyborg (Better to be alive and harrassing me than dead and quiet 6/20/2008)
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To: nickcarraway
I haven’t seen any so far this year.

It wasn't a good year for them but I did get some here in New York.

20 posted on 08/27/2008 9:50:00 AM PDT by decimon
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