They found that very high doses of antioxidant polyphenols shut down and prevent cancerous tumors by cutting off the formation of new blood vessels needed for tumor growth. Polyphenols are commonly found in red wine.
The next cancer drug might come straight from the grocery store, according to new research published in the November 2007 issue of The FASEB Journal. In the study, French scientists describe how high and low doses of polyphenols have different effects. Most notably, they found that very high doses of antioxidant polyphenols shut down and prevent cancerous tumors by cutting off the formation of new blood vessels needed for tumor growth. Polyphenols are commonly found in red wine, fruits, vegetables, and green tea.
At relatively low doses, the French researchers found that the same polyphenols play a beneficial role for those with diseased hearts and circulatory systems by facilitating blood vessel growth. The amount of polyphenols necessary for this effect was found to be the equivalent of only one glass of red wine per day or simply sticking to a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables containing polyphenols.
http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/abstract/21/13/3511 In a recent study published in the British Journal of Cancer, phenolics contained in wine possess antioxidant and antimutagenic properties. However, it says that the alcohol itself rather than a particular type of drink is responsible for the reduction in risk.
Polyphenols found in red wine - such as resveratrol - are thought to have anti-oxidant or anti-cancer properties. Polyphenols are antioxidant compounds found in the skin and seeds of grapes. When wine is made from these grapes, the alcohol produced by the fermentation process dissolves the polyphenols contained in the skin and seeds. Red wine contains more polyphenols than white wine because the making of white wine requires the removal of the skins after the grapes are crushed.
http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USROB473874200 What makes these two studies interesting in cancer is the anti-angiogenic enhancer and potentiator effect of the alcohol in red wine. What it seems to tell us is that alcohol reduces the angiogenic secretions by the tumor cells. If it does that, it could both reduce these secretions and make an anti-angiogenesis drug less resistant to the tumor cells, making it more effective. In the presence of an anti-angiogenesis drug, you can have a lethel 1-2 combination which knocks out the new blood vessels which are dependent for survival of the cancer. Polyphenols extracted from red wine could be converted into a pill that is highly likely to be safe, relatively easy and inexpensive to create, and deliver.
Resveratrol is a type of polyphenol called a phytoalexin, a class of compounds produced as part of a plant's defense system against disease. It is produced in the plant in response to an invading fungus, stress, injury, infection or ultraviolet irradiation. Red wine contains high levels of resveratrol, as do grapes, raspberries, peanuts and other plants.
Resveratrol has been shown to reduce tumor incidence in animals by affecting one or more stages of cancer development. It has been shown to inhibit growth of many types of cancer cells in culture. Evidence also exists that it can reduce inflammation. It also reduces activation of NF kappa B, a protein produced by the body's immune system when it is under attack. This protein affects cancer cell growth and metastasis. Resveratrol is also an antioxidant.
Many of the new gene-targeted drugs do not target enough genes. Cancer researchers now recognize hundreds if not thousands of genes must be down-regulated to conquer cancer. In one study, for example, at least 74 genes must be controlled in renal cancer alone (Cancer Biol Ther. 2004 Sep;3(9):889-90. Epub 2004 Sep 24). So-called promiscuous gene inhibitors must be found. A targeted drug like Sutent only down-regulates a small number of genes.
Resveratrol favorably switches many genes, and this has been shown in a renal cancer cell line (PMID: 15467424)(BMC Urol. 2004 Jun 22;4:9). It appears that resveratrol can target "all" genes involved in cancer. It is possible that it also chemosensitizes tumor cells, all the genes within the cell (a potentiator of chemotherapy drugs).