Red wine possible cancer prophylaxis

Scientists in Britain and the US announced on Tuesday plans to study a possible new cancer prevention drug based on resveratrol, a natural compound found in red wine.

Researchers at the University of Leicester in England and the University of Michign will begin testing tablets of pure resveratrol in healthy volunteers early next year. The work is being funded by the US National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Leicester’s Professor, Will Steward said resveratrol is naturally found in peanuts and several berries, as well as grape skins and wine – particularly red wine.

“Consumption of resveratrol has been proposed as one possible explanation for the low incidence of cardiovascular disease in Southern European countries with high red wine consumption, and resveratrol has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activity in experimental models,” he said.

“Since resveratrol may be of value in preventing cancer, the NCI is funding early clinical studies of pure resveratrol capsules in healthy volunteers and patients with early cancer,” Professor Stewart added.

The volunteers will initially be given one tablet containing 0.5 grams of resveratrol – equivalent to the amount in many bottles of wine then later trials will look at repeated doses.

The objective of these preliminary studies is to analyse how long the compound stays in the body and how much circulates in the blood. The researchers will also look for evidence of biochemical changes that might suggest a protective effect.

“You obviously have to know that you’re taking enough to get to the places that you want to prevent cancer,” Professor Gescher said.

Several studies have found that wine drinkers seem to be less likely to develop cancer. Resveratrol has been suggested as one possible reason, but the benefits of wine may be due to a combination of reasons.

“It is quite possible that after all this work we find resveratrol isn’t active alone,” Professor Gescher added. “But first you have to look at what these single agents so and then you look at the next step.”

(Source: ASCO and Reuters Health)