Source: cbs4denver.com
Author: Libby Smith

Researchers in Colorado have found that a natural supplement called Resveratrol may help in treating certain cancers.

Many people swear by Resveratrol because it’s been shown to have anti-aging benefits and prevent cancer in some animals. Now local researchers are finding that Resveratrol may make radiation more effective in treating head and neck cancers.

The study is currently in the lab at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, but researchers are hoping to eventually try their therapy on humans.

“What we’re trying to do is exploit what we know about Resveratrol to use in therapy,” said Dr. Robert Sclafani, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics. ”

Sclafani and Dr. David Raben, a radiation oncologist, are working together studying head and neck cancer cells grown in the laboratory and treating them with Resveratrol.

“This compound or these types of compounds seem to have a lot of activity in stopping head and neck cancer cells from growing,” Raben said.

They’ve found Resveratrol fools the cancer cells into thinking their DNA has been damaged, much like radiation, but without damaging normal cells. By treating cancer with both Resveratrol and radiation, the radiation may be more effective and have fewer side effects.

“It fools cancer cells into thinking that its DNA has been damaged very much like radiation does but without the toxicity,” Sclafani said.

“One of the other areas interesting about this particular compound is that we may even be able to prevent secondary head and neck cancers down the road by having people take this sort of a preventative approach,” Raben said.

While not a therapy yet, there’s a lot of hope that Resveratrol will provide more effective and safer cancer treatments. The researchers are seeking a grant to do Resveratrol and radiation studies in humans with head and neck cancer.

“Our hope is that this is, and I think this is probably the future for many anti-cancer drugs, that these are oral medications. You don’t have to come into the hospital, you don’t have to have an intravenous infusion – patients can take these types of pills on a daily or every other day basis and combine it with traditional approaches,” Raben said.

By bringing together the expertise of the researchers with the day-to-day experience of the oncologist, they can come up with innovative approaches to treating head and neck cancers.

Resveratrol is a natural compound produced by some plants. It’s found in grape skins and thus red wine.

It could be five to ten years before it’s known for sure that the combination will actually work in treating cancer.