Vegetable Compound Could Become Ingredient to Treating Leukemia
Date: 19.12.2012
A concentrated form of a compound called sulforaphane found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables has been shown to reduce the number of acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells in the lab setting, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine.
Lacorazza and his colleagues focused on purified sulforaphane, a natural compound found in broccoli believed to have both preventive and therapeutic properties in solid tumors. Studies have shown that people who eat a diet rich in cruciferous vegetables have a lower risk of some cancers.
To study how this compound would act on acute lymphoblastic leukemia, researchers incubated human-derived leukemic cell lines and primary lymphoblasts from pediatric patients with the compound. The cancer cells died while the healthy cells obtained from healthy donors were unaffected. Studies tested in pre-clinical mouse models showed similar results.
"Sulforaphane is a natural product. However, what we used in this study is a concentrated purified form," said Lacorazza. "So while eating cruciferous vegetables is good for you, it will not have the same effect as what we saw in the lab."
