Black Raspberries May Help in the Prevention and Treatment of Esophageal Cancer

31/08/07 Black raspberries are highly effective in preventing the development of cancerous tumors, according to a study published in the October issue of Acta Pharmacologica Sinica published by Wiley-Blackwell.

The black raspberries will, however, have no therapeutic value if the tumors have already developed.

Dr. Gary Stoner, lead author of "Prevention and Therapy of Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Rodent Esophagus by Freeze-dried Black Raspberries", finds that black raspberry powder - when fed to tumor-induced rats - inhibits harmful chemicals from producing cancer in the oral cavity, the esophagus and the colon. The research also found that black raspberry powder has the ability to lower the growth rate of pre-cancerous cells and to reduce cell DNA damage.

"Black raspberries prevent the formation of blood vessels that feed developing cancers by reducing the production of growth factors for the cells that make up the blood vessels". They also prevent the conversion of pre-malignant cells to malignant cells, and stimulate pre-cancerous cells to function normally again; or to die rather than grow", says Dr. Stoner.

However, this study suggests that the berries are not effective in curing cancers that have already developed. When administered to the rats at the papilloma stage, the berry diet had no effect on the development of the tumors or on the animals' survival.

Dr. Stoner adds. "Preliminary results in humans suggest that black raspberries prevent pre-cancerous lesions in the mouth, esophagus and colon from progressing to cancer. Thus, black raspberries seem to be a very promising in future studies into the prevention and treatment of esophageal cancer."