Pomegranate Extract for Prostate Cancer Patients

Tumor-specific nutraceuticals for prostate cancer patients is pomegranate extract. Although most pomegranate research has focused on potential benefits for cardiovascular health, the possibility that pomegranate extracts could influence the induction and growth of cancer is now receiving attention. Indeed, two recent studies have demonstrated that oral administration of pomegranate fruit extract can slow the growth of transplanted human prostate cancers. These favorable findings are now complemented by a recent clinical study in which patients with rising PSA values after initial treatment were asked to drink 8 ounces of pomegranate juice daily. Subsequently, a marked slowing of tumor growth was observed.

Pomegranate extract may ultimately prove to have broader utility in cancer management. For example, there are recent reports that oral administration of pomegranate fruit extract slows the growth of a transplanted human lung cancer, as well as of lung cancers induced in mice by carcinogen pre-treatment.

Works Cited

Albrecht M, Jiang W, Kumi-Diaka J, Lansky EP, Gommersall LM, Patel A et al.
Pomegranate extracts potently suppress proliferation, xenograft growth, and invasion of human prostate cancer cells. J Med Food 2004;7:274-83.

Malik A, Afaq F, Sarfaraz S, Adhami VM, Syed DN, Mukhtar H. Pomegranate fruit juice for chemoprevention and chemotherapy of prostate cancer. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2005;102:14813-18.

Khan N, Hadi N, Afaq F, Syed DN, Kweon MH, Mukhtar H. Pomegranate fruit
extract inhibits prosurvival pathways in human A549 lung carcinoma cells and tumor
growth in athymic nude mice. Carcinogenesis 2007;28:163-73.

Khan N, Afaq F, Kweon MH, Kim K, Mukhtar H. Oral consumption of pomegranate
fruit extract inhibits growth and progression of primary lung tumors in mice. Cancer
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