New research suggests that we can add “stopping breast cancer growth” to the long list of health benefits that resveratrol, a key ingredient in red wine, is now good for.
This discovery, made by a team of American and Italian scientists and reported in a new research report appearing in the October 2011 issue of The FASEB Journal suggests for the first time that resveratrol, sometimes called the “healthy ingredient”in wine, is able to counteract the malignant progression of cancer cells by blocking the growth effects of estrogen and inhibiting the proliferation of hormone resistant breast cancer cells. The report asserts that the identification of resveratrol as an agent to combat “acquired resistance” to hormonal breast cancer therapy would substantially enhance the long-term benefits of hormonal therapy.
“Resveratrol is a potential pharmacological tool to be exploited when breast cancer become resistant to the hormonal therapy,” said Sebastiano Andò, a researcher involved in the work from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Calabria in Italy.
As exciting as this research is, however, Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal cautions: “These findings are exciting, but in no way does it mean that should people go out and start using red wine or resveratrol supplements as a treatment for breast cancer,” said “What it does mean, however, is that scientists haven’t finished distilling the secrets of good health that have been hidden in natural products such as red wine.”
Photo: Angel Ruiz
