Resveratrol Helps Chemo Drug Fight Liver Cancer Cells
Doctors Z.J. Sun, H.S. Liu, and G.J. Wang published a study in 2002 that examined the anti-tumor effect of resveratrol, a red wine ingredient, and the effects of resveratrol with an anti-cancer chemotherapy drug on the growth of liver cancer cells.
The doctors, from the Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery at the First Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University Xi’an in Shaanxi Province, China, tested their theory in a controlled environment. The doctors wanted to see if resveratrol and an anti-cancer chemotherapy drug could work together to produce an outcome on the liver cancer cells that couldn’t have been reached with either agent alone.
The study shows that red wine resveratrol did restrict the growth of liver cancer cells. The doctors also found that the combined anti-tumor effects of resveratrol and the chemotherapy drug were greater than the effects of liver cancer cells treated with only the chemo drug.
Overall, resveratrol supplements can suppress the growth of liver cancer cells in a controlled laboratory-testing environment. Also, resveratrol’s anti-tumor activity may occur through the initial processes of programmed cell death, where younger cells replace old cells.
Resveratrol: Promising Alternative Therapy for Lung Cancer
A study on the combined effects of resveratrol and a naturally derived chemotherapy drug on lung cancer cells was published in 2003 by Drs. T. Kubota, Y. Uemura, M. Kobayashi and H. Taquchi from the Department of Medicine at the Kochi Medical School in Kochi, Japan.
Red wine resveratrol is a natural compound found in grapes and other food products that can help prevent cancer. The results of this study suggest that resveratrol may be a promising alternative therapy for lung cancer. The research also suggests that lung cancer cells that have been exposed to resveratrol have a lower tolerance level to be destroyed by the chemotherapy drug, paclitaxel, which is similarly abstracted from natural plant substances.
Resveratrol Enhances the Therapeutic Effects of Paclitaxel in Lung Cancer Cells
The doctors found that resveratrol prevented the growth of three lung cancer cell lines by 50%. They examined the combined effects in cells of resveratrol and paclitaxel. Paclitaxel is an important cancer prevention agent against lung cancer. Resveratrol enhanced the subsequent restriction of cells caused by the chemotherapy drug.
There are different ways to ingest the grape polyphenol called resveratrol. There is also research supporting that moderate red wine drinking supplies the body with small doses of resveratrol. There are also resveratrol supplement tablets and pills for people who do not drink alcohol.
Trans-Resveratrol Assists Chemotherapy Drug
A 2003 case study from the Facoltá di Medicina e Chirurgia in the Dipartimento di Neuroscienze e Tecnologie Biomediche at the Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca in Monza, Italy found that trans-resveratrol, a form of the red wine ingredient called resveratrol, effects toxin induced cell death in tumor cells.
Along with a naturally derived chemotherapy cancer drug, Trans-resveratrol helps to induce cell death in cancerous tumor cells. In the human body, there are pathways that allow cells to respond to environmental factors, trans-resveratrol aids by regulating these pathways.
Drs. G. Nicolini, R. Rigolio, A. Scuteri, M. Miloso, D. Saccomanno, G. Cavaletti and G. Tredici performed this experiment on molecular level to find that trans-resveratrol interacts with Paclitaxel, a type of cancer treatment drug that is derived from natural substances in plants. Trans-resveratrol and resveratrol are also naturally derived from plants, like grapes. Trans-resveratrol and resveratrol can be consumed by drinking red wine. The most effective way to ingest this compound is in the form of a resveratrol supplement that the effects are more direct.