THURSDAY, Dec. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Blueberry Punch -- an antioxidant-rich fruit juice concentrate containing blueberry, red grapes, raspberry, elderberry, grape seed and skin extract, citrus skin extracts, green tea extract, olive leaf/olive pulp extracts, tarragon, turmeric and ginger -- helps suppress prostate cancer growth, 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.
Jas Singh, of the University of Sydney in Australia, and colleagues studied Blueberry Punch's in vitro effects on prostate cancer cells and its in vivo effects on mice with prostate cancer.
The researchers found that Blueberry Punch had a dose-dependent effect on reducing prostate cancer cell viability. After immunostaining the treated cells, they also found that the beverage reduced levels of COX-2 and phospho- cPLA2. In mice that drank Blueberry Punch for two weeks, the investigators found that tumor size decreased by 25 percent compared to mice given tap water.
"Further studies to determine the mechanistic pathways involved in the inhibition of cancer cell growth are in progress," the authors conclude.
This study was partially funded by Dr. Red Nutraceuticals of Australia, the makers of Blueberry Punch.
Abstract #A104
