Pomegranates could combat prostate cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death for men, according to the results of a recent study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Currently, two million American men live with prostate cancer. Although the disease is curable if diagnosed early, initial stage symptoms are usually detected only with a blood test and a rectal exam. Auspicious characteristics, such as small tumor size, also increase the possibility of prostate cancer removal.
'Patients with favorable characteristics have about a 90 percent or better chance of being cured by either surgery or radiation therapy,' said Dr. Mark Ritter, an associate professor of human oncology.
However, for many, the slow developing cancer becomes incurable and the challenge remains how to best treat the disease.
Pomegranate juice and extracts have antioxidants, anti-rusting agents that hinder disease and slow down the aging process. After learning of pomegranates' antioxidant components, Dr. Hasan Mukhtar, a professor of dermatology in the UW-Madison Medical School, and a team of dermatology research scientists decided to test the impact of pomegranate on prostate cancer cells in a Petri dish.
The results were promising: pomegranates correlated with the death of prostate cancer cells. The greater the pomegranate content, the higher the rate of cancer cell decimation'a 'dose dependent' effect.
After these preliminary results, the team decided to test pomegranate on mice that developed malignancies'cancerous tumors'after an injection of human prostate cancer cells. Twenty-four mice were divided into three random groups. The control group drank normal water, while groups two and three received a water solution with .1 percent and .2 percent pomegranate extract, respectively. The percentages reflect the amount a prostate cancer patient could reasonably consume on a daily basis. Dr. Mukhtar estimates a pomegranate treatment for prostate cancer would probably include two servings of eight-ounces of juice a day.
In the pomegranate test, mice showed a dramatic slowing of their cancer development as well as a decline in the number of prostate cancer cells. The mice that drank ordinary water experienced much faster tumor growth rates than those that drank a pomegranate solution.
'There is a day and night difference,' Mukhtar said.
Although the mice were in controlled environments and have a different genetic makeup than humans, 'Ultimately the data can translate,' according to Mukhtar. He said
that pomegranate has potential to work on human prostate cancer patients for treatment and prevention purposes. Testing human patients is the next step in
the research.
Native to Iran and the Himalayas, pomegranate is one of the most expensive juices. However, it is relatively accessible and available at many Madison grocers.
Pomegranate is not the only dietary supplement with antioxidants. 'Almost all plants and living things have some antioxidants,' Mukhtar said.
The difference between pomegranate, apples and other antioxidant plants is potency. Pomegranate is a more powerful antioxidant fit for fighting prostate cancer.
Although testing pomegranate on human subjects is Mukhtar's next priority, he believes if pomegranate does work on human prostate cancer subjects it may also work to treat or prevent other common cancers.
