Bitter melon stops breast cancer cells from growing and spreading

[Guest guest]

Bitter melon stops breast cancer cells from growing and spreading

Friday, February 26, 2010 by: S. L. Baker, features writer

http://www.naturalnews.com/028256_bitter_melon_brst_cancer.html

(NaturalNews) A vegetable commonly eaten in India and China called bitter

melon (also known by the botanical name Momordica charantia), has been shown

in previous studies to have a beneficial impact on blood sugar and

cholesterol levels. It turns out that's not all the health benefits bitter

melon offers. A new study by Saint Louis University scientists provides

evidence the vegetable triggers a chain of events on a cellular level that

stops breast cancer cells from multiplying and also kills them.

Lead researcher Ratna Ray, Ph.D., a professor in the department of pathology

at Saint Louis University, noted in a statement to the media that she

personally uses bitter melon when she cooks stir fry dishes. She decided to

investigate the health effects of bitter melon extract after other

researchers discovered how it can lower blood sugar and regulate cholesterol

levels. In fact, bitter melon extract has been used by traditional healers

in China and India for centuries as a natural treatment for diabetes. But

Dr. Ray was surprised to find this vegetable was a powerful inhibitor of

breast cancer growth, too.

" To our knowledge, this is the first report describing the effect of bitter

melon extract on cancer cells, " Dr. Ray stated. " Our result was encouraging.

We have shown that bitter melon extract significantly induced death in

breast cancer cells and decreased their growth and spread. "

The research, published in the March 1 edition of Cancer Research, a journal

of the American Association for Cancer Research, involved human breast

cancer cells exposed to bitter melon extract in the lab. Dr. Ray cautioned

that it is too early to jump to conclusions that the extract could help

breast cancer patients -- but her findings are promising.

" Cancer prevention by the use of naturally occurring dietary substances is

considered a practical approach to reduce the ever-increasing incidence of

cancer. Studying a high risk breast cancer population where bitter melon is

taken as a dietary product will be an important area of future research, "

Dr. Ray said in the press statement.

Dr. Ray and colleagues are currently conducting follow-up studies. They are

looking at a number of different cancer cell lines in order to investigate

how bitter melon halts cancer cell growth. They are also planning to test

the vegetable extract in animals to see if it will delay or kill breast

cancer cells. If that research goes well, clinical trials in human breast

cancer patients could soon follow.

" Breast cancer is a major killer among women around the world, and in that

perspective, results from this study are quite significant, " Rajesh Agarwal,

Ph.D., professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the

University of Colorado, Denver School of Pharmacy, and the Cancer Research

associate editor for this study, commented in a media release. " This study

may provide us with one more agent as an extract that could be used against

breast cancer if additional studies hold true. "

Bitter melon is widely grown in Asia, Africa and South America. Extracts of

this vegetable are currently included in some dietary supplements in Western

countries because bitter melon is known to contain healthful phytochemicals

such as carotenoids, flavanoids and polyphenols, as well as vitamin C.

For more information:

http://www.naturalnews.com/bitter_m...