WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say they have discovered a biochemical basis to explain broccoli's cancer-fighting ability.
Researchers led by Fung-Lung Chung of the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University said substances in broccoli, cauliflower, watercress and other cruciferous vegetables contain compounds called isothiocyanates that seem to stop the growth of cancer by encouraging cancer cell death -- apoptosis.
Chung and colleagues say the way isothiocyanates may work is by assisting the tumor suppressor gene -- p53 -- which helps prevents cancer growth when normal but not when mutated.
The study, published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, demonstrates certain natural-occurring isothiocyanates leave normal p53 alone but selectively bind with and deplete mutant p53 which helps induce apoptosis.
"Collectively, this study shows that mutant p53 depletion may be an important novel target for cancer chemoprevention and therapy by natural and synthetic isothiocyanates," the study says.
