Potent Anti-Cancer Agent-Chocolate

Tag : Compound Chocolate

A chemical synthesised out of a cocoa compound has accelerated thekilling of human tumours in a lab environment, according to thestudy by Georgetown University researchers.
The researchers described how four different tumour cell lines outof 16 tested sensitive to the chemical, known as GECGC. Thestrongest response was seen in two different colon cancers; growthwas cut in half and most of the tumour cells were damaged.
GECGC “seems to be safe… because it has a structuresimilar to a natural product in cocoa beans - the same beans thatare used to make chocolate,” said the study’s leadauthor Min Kim.
Researchers have long studied the beneficial effects of flavanols -molecules in vegetables and fruits that exhibit potent anti-oxidantand potentially anti-tumour properties.
As part of these studies, investigators have been testing a newsynthetic version of natural procyanidins, a class of flavanols,created and patented by a confectionery company Mars Incorporated.
In these studies, the scientists tested the effects of threedifferent doses of GECGC on the cancer cell lines - the first timethat a synthetic cocoa derivative has been used to screen humancancer cell lines.
None of the doses tested were extreme, Kim pointed out. “Theeffective concentrations were considered similar to what a personmight eat or use,” he said.
They found sensitivity to GECGC in both colon cancer cell linesthey tested, in cervical cancer cells and in one line of leukaemiatumour cells. Other cell lines were resistant, including ovarianand prostate cancer cells.
Overall, GECGC showed the most effect in treating cancer cells thatare normally fast growing, Kim said. And the fact that itdemonstrated the most killing power in colon cancer suggests thechemical “could serve as a promising therapeutic for coloncancer,” he said. “So far, these data are veryconvincing.”
The researchers do not yet clearly understand the mechanism bywhich GECGC disrupts tumour growth, but they think it inhibits thephysical connections between cancer cells and blocks internal cellsignalling pathways.
The findings of the study have been published online Monday in thejournal Cell Cycle .
Via The Times of India