Research has shown that resveratrol has a number of benefits in cancer treatment. The natural compound commonly found in organic red grape skins, where it wards off fungal attack, has been linked to strengthening the brain, maintaining weight control, fighting leukaemia and improving cardiovascular health. It is a known antioxidant and anti-viral agent.
Research has previously shown that it can work synergistically with lycopene, with curcumin and with folates as important bioactive compounds against prostate cancer(1)
New research suggests it could be an important help in fighting prostate cancer by improving the effectiveness of orthodox treatments:
Previous research has shown that resveratrol can boost the effectiveness of prostate cancer chemotherapy. Research in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2011, concluded that resveratrol is a powerful chemo-sensitiser and it actually helps prostate tumours respond more effectively to chemotherapy treatment by enhancing signaling molecules. Resveratrol also seems to increase levels of proteins that fight malignant cells. Now Michael Nicholl, an assistant professor of oncology at the University of Missouri School of Medicine, and his team decided to find out if resveratrol had the same benefits if used with radiotherapy.
The researchers found that resveratrol boosted levels of two naturally-occurring proteins: Perforin and granzyme B. Interestingly, these proteins can target any and all malignant cells throughout the body.
Resveratrol seems to produce even more of these proteins when the tumour is that of prostate cancer.
It is critical that both proteins, perforin and granzyme B, are present in order to kill the tumour cells, and we found that the resveratrol helped to increase their activity in prostate tumour cells, said Nicholl. Following the resveratrol-radiation treatment, we realized that we were able to kill many more tumour cells when compared with treating the tumour with radiation alone. Its important to note that this killed all types of prostate tumour cells, including aggressive tumour cells.
As Chris Woollams book the Rainbow Diet will tell you, resveratrol is an important constituent of the diet, is strongly anti-inflamatory and a forceful antioxidant, both powerful in preventing diseases like cancer.
Go to: Canceractive extensive overview on prostate cancer
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1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5239570/