Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/896170
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND SCREENING have contributed to a decades-long drop in the colorectal cancer death rate, according to the American Cancer Society. Nevertheless, CDC data show the disease remains the third most common cancer in men and women — ranking below prostate cancer and lung cancer in men, and breast cancer and lung cancer in women — and the second-leading cause of cancer death for both sexes, trailing only lung cancer, in the United States. Links between plant-rich diets and lower incidence of colorectal cancer are well-established in scientifi c literature, although precisely why fruits and vegetables seem to protect against the disease remains unclear. A Penn State study added to the growing body of evidence by using a combination of GSE and resveratrol — substances previously shown separately to have anti-cancer properties. STEM CELLS IN THE CROSSHAIRS The researchers chose to target colorectal cancer stem cells due to the outsize role they play in tumor development, according to Lavanya Reddivari, PhD, Assistant Professor and Research Associate at Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences and an author of the study. "Colon cancer stem cells [are] a minor fraction compared to the total number of cancer cells, but these cancer stem cells are responsible for initiating tumor formation," Reddivari says. "In addition, we know that these stem cells are resistant to certain cytotoxic factors of the drugs we normally use. They are diª cult to eliminate with current therapy, but it's essential for us to eliminate them to cure the cancer completely. Given the impor- tance of these stem cells and their resistance to therapeutics, we thought they would be a good target." The researchers measured the eª cacy of a GSE/resveratrol combination against that of sulindac, a nonsteroida l anti- infl ammatory drug known to kill cancer stem cells. The team injected mice with a carcinogenic compound to induce colorectal cancer and divided them into three groups: One group received GSE and resveratrol mixed with food, another received sulindac and food, and the control group ate a normal diet. STRIKING RESULTS In the mice that received the GSE/resveratrol diet, tumor formation decreased by 50 percent compared with the control group — a result proportional to the drop the researchers observed in the sulindac group. The GSE/resveratrol combination also induced apoptosis of cancer stem cells, reduced the number of intestinal crypts (glands) containing cancer stem cells and curbed the spread of cancer stem cells at levels consistent with those of sulindac. The in vitro results corroborated the team's in vivo fi ndings. The scientists were surprised not only by the similar A COMBINATION OF GR APE SEED E X TR ACT ¦GSE§ AND THE GR APE COMPOUND RESVER ATROL SUPPRESSES COLON CANCER STEM CELLS WITH EFFICACY SIMIL AR TO THAT OF A CHEMOPRE VENTIVE DRUG, BUT WITHOUT THE L AT TER'S ADVERSE EFFECTS, ACCORDING TO PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSIT Y RESE ARCHERS. THE Y BELIE VE THEIR FINDINGS COULD OPEN THE DOOR TO NOVEL THER APIES TO PRE VENT COLORECTAL CANCER. BUNCHES OF PROMISE: BY THOMAS CROCKER Grape Compounds May Prevent Colorectal Cancer Study Shows SPECIAL CLINICAL SECTION: GASTROENTEROLOGY 2 2