THURSDAY, Dec. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Broccoli extract and raw cruciferous vegetables may help protect against bladder cancer, according to research presented this week at the American Association for Cancer Research's Sixth International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research in Philadelphia.
Rex Munday, Ph.D., of the Ruakura Agricultural Research Center in Hamilton, New Zealand, and colleagues fed freeze-dried aqueous extract of broccoli sprouts to rats. The investigators found that the extract significantly and dose-dependently inhibited bladder cancer development induced by N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl) nitrosamine. Because the extract's isothiocyanates were selectively delivered to the bladder epithelium through urinary excretion, the researchers concluded that the extract may be a promising substance for bladder cancer prevention.
Li Tang, of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y., and colleagues analyzed dietary intake of raw and cooked cruciferous vegetables in 275 patients with incident, primary bladder cancer and 825 cancer-free controls. Compared to subjects with the lowest intake of raw cruciferous vegetables, they found that subjects with the highest intake had a significantly lower risk of bladder cancer (adjusted odds ratio 0.57).
"These data indicate that cruciferous vegetables, when consumed raw, may reduce risk of bladder cancer, a protective effect consistent with a role of dietary isothiocyanates as chemopreventive agents against bladder cancer," Tang and colleagues conclude.
Abstract #B149
Abstract #B47 or PR-3
