Breast cancer sufferers are being treated with newly developed broccoli-based medicines that suppress tumours, reports the Daily Mail.
The new treatment harnesses the cancer-preventative compound sulforaphane, which is naturally present in broccoli.
Experts at the Institute of Food research say that cancer-preventative benefits of broccoli – arising from sulforaphane’s ability to help balance antioxidants in the body to counter the effects of dietary, environmental, or other carcinogens – can be achieved by eating three or four portions of broccoli a week.
Now, researchers in America are carrying out trials of broccoli-based medicines which they hope will suppress tumours in breast cancer patients.
At Johns Hopkins University and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, women with breast cancer are being given sulforaphane daily for two weeks to see if it slows the growth of tumours and increases levels of protective enzymes in breast tissue.
At the Knight Cancer Institute in Oregon, scientists are looking at whether broccoli extract taken three times a day for up to two months slows the growth of tumour cells.
