Grape Seed Helps In Fight Against Cancer

Research has shown that grape seed extract can help fight cancer by making chemotherapy more effective and reducing its side effects.

Asian Scientist (Mar. 3, 2014) – New research has shown that grape seed extract can help fight bowel cancer by aiding the effectiveness of chemotherapy in killing cancer cells and reducing the chemotherapy’s side effects at the same time.

Published in the journal PLOS ONE, the researchers say that combining grape seed extracts with chemotherapy has potential as a new approach for bowel cancer treatment – to both reduce intestinal damage commonly caused by cancer chemotherapy and to enhance its effect.

Lead author Dr Amy Cheah says there is a growing body of evidence for the antioxidant health benefits of grape seed tannins or polyphenols as anti-inflammatory agents and, more recently, for their anti-cancer properties.

“This is the first study showing that grape seed can enhance the potency of one of the major chemotherapy drugs in its action against colon cancer cells,” says Dr Cheah, a researcher at the University of Adelaide.

“Our research also showed that in laboratory studies grape seed taken orally significantly reduced inflammation and tissue damage caused by chemotherapy in the small intestine, and had no harmful effects on non-cancerous cells. Unlike chemotherapy, grape seed appears to selectively act on cancer cells and leave healthy cells almost unaffected.”

The researchers used commercially available grape seed extract, a by-product of winemaking. Tannins extracted from the grape seed were freeze-dried and powdered. The extract was tested in laboratory studies using colon cancer cells grown in culture.

The research showed that grape seed extract did not cause side effects in healthy intestine and instead decreased intestinal damage and inflammation due to chemotherapy. It also increased the growth-inhibitory effects of chemotherapy on colon cancer cells by 26%

Co-author and project leader Professor Gordon Howarth says: “Grape seed is showing great potential as an anti-inflammatory treatment for a range of bowel diseases and now as a possible anti-cancer treatment. These first anti-cancer results are from cell culture and the next step will be to investigate more widely.”

The findings could also be a boost to the wine grape industry as it value adds to what is essentially a by-product of the winemaking process.

The article can be found at: Cheah KY et al. (2014) Grape Seed Extract Dose-Responsively Decreases Disease Severity In A Rat Model of Mucositis; Concomitantly Enhancing Chemotherapeutic Effectiveness In Colon Cancer Cells.

——

Source: University of Adelaide; Photo: tribp/Flickr/CC.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.

Asian Scientist Magazine is an award-winning science and technology magazine that highlights R&D news stories from Asia to a global audience. The magazine is published by Singapore-headquartered Wildtype Media Group.

Related Stories from Asian Scientist