In the United States it is estimated that approximately 12,000 women are diagnosed every year with cervical cancer, with the most common treatment being radiation therapy. Unfortunately the radiation therapy destroys the nearby healthy cells along with the cancer cells. Researchers at the University of Missouri School of Medicine investigated in vitro human cancer cells to demonstrate that combining blueberry extract with radiation therapy can increase the effectiveness of treatment.
Cancer cells are destroyed in radiation therapy, which makes use of high energy x-rays and particles such as gamma rays to destroy them, the process always causes collateral damage to healthy cells. Using hints about a compound called resveratrol from previous studies researchers looked to it to see if blueberries could be used as a radiosensitizer. Radiosensitizers are non-toxic chemicals with the ability to increase the responsiveness of cancer cells to radiation therapy. Previous studies showed that resveratrol found in red grapes could be used in the treatment of prostate cancer as a radiosensitizer, blueberries also contain the compound called resveratrol. In addition to resveratrol blueberries also contain flavonoids, which are a chemical that has antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties.
Human cervical cancer cell lines were used by the researchers to mimic clinical treatment. To conduct this study cell lines were put into 4 groups which included a group that received only radiation, a group that received only blueberry extract, a group the received both blueberry extract and radiation, and a control group. To confirm the results of the study the team used 3 different measures. The group that had received the radiation only treatment had a decrease of cancer cell by approximately 20%. The group that had received the blueberry only treatment had a decrease of 25%. The group that had the combined treatment had a decrease of close to 70%.
The explosion of abnormal cell growth, which is basically what cancer is, was also reduced by the mechanisms that makes blueberry extract a radiosensitizer. The cancer cells had remodelled themselves avoiding destruction. The extract tricks the cancer cells into dying while decreasing cell proliferation, inhibiting birth while promoting death of the cancer cells, explains M.D. PhD. Yujiang Fang. Who then goes on to say that blueberries are commonly found worldwide, readily available and inexpensive. They already have many studies showing their benefits, adding them as a natural treatment option for boosting effectiveness of existing therapies should be enthusiastically accepted
