ANAHEIM, Calif., April 18 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers Monday reported animal tests show an anti-inflammatory drug wiped out all cancer-causing risks produced by a high-fat Western diet.
The study, from the Albert Einstein Cancer Center, was presented at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.
The non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory medication Sulindac, which was used in the testing, was an effective chemoprevention agent in the mice subjects, the researchers said, because it induced expression of the p21 gene, which stops tumor formation. The drug worked even though the mice were missing two key tumor suppressor genes -- p27 and APC -- and were fed a diet high in fat and low in calcium and vitamin D.
The researchers said while the results do not yet indicate a treatment to prevent colon cancer they do show the interplay between genes and common nutritional and medicinal agents in the development of intestinal cancer.
