Red Grape Compound May Assist in Prostate Cancer Battle

Found abundantly in red grape skins and red wine, the antioxidant compound resveratrol has been shown by a number of studies to exert benefits ranging from cardiovascular health to stroke prevention. Michael Nicholl, from the University of Missouri (Missouri, USA), and colleagues report that resveratrol makes prostate tumor cells more susceptible to radiation treatment, potentially increasing the chances of a full recovery from all types of prostate cancer, including aggressive tumors.   The team observed that the introduced of resveratrol into prostate tumor cells greatly increased the activity of both perforin and granzyme, proteins that have been shown to kill cancer cells.  Following radiation treatment, the researchers found that up to 97% of the tumor cells died, which is a much higher percentage than treatment with radiation alone.