The latest study reveals the benefits of blueberry-rich antioxidant fruits to help fight cancer cells.
By studying the strains of cervical cancer cells in humans, one team of researchers found that adding blueberry extract to radiation therapy could significantly improve treatment efficacy according to the study. Yujiang Fang from the School of Medicine of the University of Missouri-Columbia whose results are published in Pathology and Oncology Research.
In their study, the researchers sought to determine whether blueberry extracts could be used as radiosensitizers, which are compounds that make cancer cells more susceptible to radiation therapy.
Dr. Fang and his colleagues found that resveratrol - a compound present in grapes and red wine - helps to increase the sensitivity of prostate cancer cells to radiation therapy.
The researchers note that blueberries also contain resveratrol, in addition to flavonoids. Flavonoids, according to Dr. Fang, is a chemical that can have anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-bacterial properties.
The team tested the blueberry extract on human cancer cells in a recent study. The use of the extract was self-tested and combined with radiation therapy, and its effects were compared with radiation therapy alone.
While radiation therapy alone reduces the number of cancer cells by 20 percent, blueberry extract alone can reduce 25 percent of cancer cells, a combination of blueberry extract and radiation therapy can reduce the number of cervical cancer cells to about 70 percent.
The researchers explain, blueberry extract not only makes cancer cells more sensitive to radiation, but also reduce the growth of abnormal cells that trigger the development of cancer.
"Cancer cells avoid death by overhauling themselves," said Dr Fang. "Together with a decrease in cell proliferation, the extracts deceive cancer cells into dying, so it precludes birth and triggers cancer cell death," he said.
Further studies are still needed, but researchers say their findings suggest that blueberries may be a promising treatment strategy for cervical cancer and other types of cancer, according to the Medical News Today

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