How broccoli suppresses tumours, by researchers

WOMEN with breast cancer are being given a broccoli-based medicine to see if it suppresses their tumours. Previous studies have suggested that a compound released after eating broccoli can boost protective enzymes in breast tissue.Now scientists have harnessed this molecule, sulforaphane and are giving it to patients newly diagnosed with the disease. Eating cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, has long been associated with a reduced risk of conditions from arthritis to cancer, but the mechanism has remained unclear.Researchers at the Institute of Food Research (IFR) believe that sulforaphane can boost the body's own anti-cancer weapons.'Sulforaphane is very important,' says Dr. Maria Traka, of the Norwich-based IFR. 'The evidence suggests that it helps maintain a healthy balance of antioxidants in the body to counter the effects of dietary, environmental, or other carcinogens.'To get the benefits, you would need to eat three or four portions of broccoli a week. Some may find that difficult but, having seen the evidence, my family now eat it three or four times a week.'Sulforaphane is produced by the body when we eat glucoraphanin, a compound found in broccoli. It is thought sulforaphane turns on genes that boost antioxidant levels and blocks a family of enzymes called HDAC that prevents the body from suppressing tumours.
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