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[Dross]

A new story entry has been added:

Chemical in red wine, fruits and vegetables stops cancer, heart disease, depending on the dose

The next cancer drug might come straight from the grocery store, according to new research published in the November 2007 issue of The FASEB Journal. In the study, French scientists describe how high and low doses of polyphenols have different effects. Most notably, they found that very high doses of antioxidant polyphenols shut down and prevent cancerous tumors by cutting off the formation of new blood vessels needed for tumor growth. Polyphenols are commonly found in red wine, fruits, vegetables, and green tea.
At relatively low doses, the French researchers found that the same polyphenols play a beneficial role for those with diseased hearts and circulatory systems by facilitating blood vessel growth. The amount of polyphenols necessary for this effect was found to be the equivalent of only one glass of red wine per day or simply sticking to a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables containing polyphenols. This diet is known as the ?Mediterranean Diet.? This study also adds to a growing body of research showing dose-dependent relationships for many types of commonly used compounds. For instance, research published in the October 2006 issue of The FASEB Journal shows that aspirin, through different mechanisms, also has a dose-dependent relationship for heart disease and cancer.

[gdpawel]

This is very interesting! They found that very high doses of antioxidant polyphenols shut down and prevent cancerous tumors by cutting off the formation of new blood vessels needed for tumor growth. Polyphenols are commonly found in red wine.

In a recent study published in the British Journal of Cancer, phenolics contained in wine possess antioxidant and antimutagenic properties. However, it says that the alcohol itself rather than a particular type of drink is responsible for the reduction in risk.

[url]http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSROB47387420070824[/url]

[gdpawel]

Polyphenols found in red wine - such as resveratrol - are thought to have anti-oxidant or anti-cancer properties. Polyphenols are antioxidant compounds found in the skin and seeds of grapes. When wine is made from these grapes, the alcohol produced by the fermentation process dissolves the polyphenols contained in the skin and seeds. Red wine contains more polyphenols than white wine because the making of white wine requires the removal of the skins after the grapes are crushed.

What makes these two studies interesting in cancer is the anti-angiogenic enhancer and potentiator effect of the alcohol in red wine. What it seems to tell us is that alcohol reduces the angiogenic secretions by the tumor cells. If it does that, it could both reduce these secretions and make an anti-angiogenesis drug less resistant to the tumor cells, making it more effective. In the presence of an anti-angiogenesis drug, you can have a lethel 1-2 combination which knocks out the new blood vessels which are dependent for survival of the cancer. Polyphenols extracted from red wine could be converted into a pill that is highly likely to be safe, relatively easy and inexpensive to create, and deliver.

Resveratrol is a type of polyphenol called a phytoalexin, a class of compounds produced as part of a plant's defense system against disease. It is produced in the plant in response to an invading fungus, stress, injury, infection or ultraviolet irradiation. Red wine contains high levels of resveratrol, as do grapes, raspberries, peanuts and other plants.

Resveratrol has been shown to reduce tumor incidence in animals by affecting one or more stages of cancer development. It has been shown to inhibit growth of many types of cancer cells in culture. Evidence also exists that it can reduce inflammation. It also reduces activation of NF kappa B, a protein produced by the body's immune system when it is under attack. This protein affects cancer cell growth and metastasis. Resveratrol is also an antioxidant.

Many of the new gene-targeted drugs do not target enough genes. Cancer researchers now recognize hundreds if not thousands of genes must be down-regulated to conquer cancer. In one study, for example, at least 74 genes must be controlled in renal cancer alone (Cancer Biol Ther. 2004 Sep;3(9):889-90. Epub 2004 Sep 24). So-called promiscuous gene inhibitors must be found. A targeted drug like Sutent only down-regulates a small number of genes.

Resveratrol favorably switches many genes, and this has been shown in a renal cancer cell line (PMID: 15467424)(BMC Urol. 2004 Jun 22;4:9). It appears that resveratrol can target "all" genes involved in cancer. It is possible that it also chemosensitizes tumor cells, all the genes within the cell (a potentiator of chemotherapy drugs).

[whitey2insk]

So if you have tumors then taking low doses of resveratrol or red wine or grape seed extract (with low doses of polyphenols) could actually promote tumor growth by promoting blood cell growth to the tumors ?

[gdpawel]

The online edition of the Journal of Internal Medicine reported the discovery of the first practical laboratory test to guide the use of new-generation drugs that kill cancer cells by cutting off their blood supply. The new test, called the Microvessel Vascular (AngioRx™) assay, was developed by Larry Weisenthal, MD, PhD., a medical oncologist who operates a cancer testing laboratory in Huntington Beach, California.

Tumor Cell Profiling is a test to show if your cancer cells were killed by exposure to one or more of the 20 or so different anti-cancer drugs that might otherwise have been considered as possible treatments for your type of cancer. It is a test that can help determine which cancer drugs would appear to be the best treatment plan.

The test works by measuring drug effects upon endothelial cells which make up blood vessels. Its use could prolong lives, save money, and spare patients exposure to harmful side-effects of ineffective chemotherapy treatments.

To have the test done, a biopsy needs to be delivered for the cells to be studied. Fees for a complete 20 to 25 drug "functional" Tumor Cell Profiling analysis are in the neighborhood of $5,000. The procedure is covered by Medicare and some insurers as well.

According to Dr. Weisenthal, therapeutic levels of alcohol in the bloodstream theoretically could be achieved simply by drinking wine or another alcoholic beverages in prescribed doses concurrent with receiving angiogenesis-inhibiting drugs. Dr. Weisenthal finds support in actual case studies reported in the medical literature.

Dr. Weisenthal says that he would like to see the test become available to patients worldwide through service agreements with larger laboratory companies or with a biotechnology company which might develop a testing kit for sale to hospitals and laboratories. He also would like to license the test to pharmaceutical companies for use in new drug development.

[url]http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/118108.php[/url]