Laurel on Health Food

MSNBC.com reports that researchers at the University of California said that they may understand the biological mechanism responsible for the protection that broccoli and soy have against cancer. After studying cells in a lab dish, the researchers found that the compound diindolymethane (DIM), produced when you digest cruciferous vegetables, and genistein, a soy isoflavone, decrease production of two proteins that allow breast and ovarian cancers to spread in your body. The researchers plan to test their theory on mice.

Here is the scientific explanation from the MSNBC article: “Cancer cells express very high levels of a surface receptor known as CXCR4, while the organs to which the cancers spread secrete high levels of CXCL12, a ligand that binds to that particular receptor. The study found that when cancer cells were treated with either DIM or genistein, movement toward CXCL12 is reduced by at least 80 percent compared to untreated cells.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 17th, 2007 at 6:45 am and is filed under Cancer, Soy, Vegetables. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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