Red fruit and berries have a growing profile as immunity-boosting ‘super foods’, and this image is in no danger of waning thanks to new research from the University of Colorado. Their Cancer Research Centre recently released the results of a trial proving the effectiveness of grape seed extract in inhibiting the growth of colorectal cancer cells. The discovery offers great hope to the wellbeing of cancer sufferers locked into the chemotherapy process, where fighting your disease means feeling worse before you feel better. It seems that grape seed extract might aid the development of a chemotherapy drug that isolates and attacks cancerous cells, while leaving the healthy ones untouched.
Research into the subject of colorectal cancer is currently in high demand, as the rates of this type of cancer show a worrying increase. The increase in colorectal cancer rates seems to indicate a strong correlation between the sedentary modern lifestyle and high-fat diet, and of course, the lack of early screening programmes. Considering the challenges in this wellness area, a discovery of this kind brings a great sense of promise.
Grape seed extract was not only found to target cancerous cells specifically, but its effectiveness was seen to improve with more advanced cancer cells. While stage IV cancer requires much larger chemotherapy doses than a stage II cancer; with grape seed extract, the reverse appeared to be true. A spokesperson for the study explained that in the case of grape seed extract, under half the concentration was required to kill 50% of stage IV cells than was necessary for the same results on stage II cancer. Amazingly, the study showed that grape seed extract did all this while leaving the healthy cells untouched.
It has been known for some time that the bioactive compounds in grape seed extract are able to target many types of cancer cells. In the case of colorectal cancer, this is especially important as there are innumerable genetic mutations – so much so that it seems impossible to find a chemotherapy drug applicable to them all. Grape seed extract has an extremely wide application, and it remains only to find a suitable way to administer it. The discovery of a method of clinically administering these grape seed compounds to sufferers would mean a major stride in cancer research, and a great boost to the wellness of colorectal sufferers.
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