The multiple therapeutic properties of pomegranate are no secret, but it is only 10 years since this fruit has been experimented with to analyze its usefulness in the treatment of cancer cells. Its high polyphenol content could have anti-tumor qualities; clinical studies are currently being conducted on prostate cancer patients to find out the effects of this fruit on the disease.
Pomegranate’s anti-tumor effects
Pomegranate has been shown to have anti-proliferative (prevents cancer cell reproduction) and pro-apoptosis (cell death caused by the organism itself) effects in numerous cancer studies.
- In prostate cancer, they observed tumor retardation in mice that were given pomegranate juice compared to those that drank water.
- In breast cancer, they demonstrated that both the oil derived from pomegranate seeds and the natural and fermented juice inhibited risk factors such as estrogen synthesis and aromatase activity between 60 and 80%.
- In colon cancer, pomegranate seed oil was able to suppress its development. All the components of pomegranate induce apoptosis in the cells of this cancer.
- In lung cancer, treatment with pomegranate extract causes a decrease in cancer cell viability and affects normal bronchial epithelium cells. In another study, the extract was shown to reduce the number of tumors developed in mice.
- In skin cancer, pomegranate seed oil decreases the effect and number of skin tumors in mice.
Cancer factors that pomegranate affects
This fruit affects the factors of numerous cancers. For example, it suppresses NF-kB activation in colon, breast and lung cancer. This protein complex is a major player in our body’s immune response to infection and can be overactive, causing cancer cells to proliferate. It is present in several tumors and regulates the expression of 200 genes with immune functions.
Another factor is the decrease in oxygen supply to a tissue, called hypoxia. This is an essential mechanism for the progression of more than 70% of tumors, causing the activation of angiogenesis (growth of new blood vessels that tumors need to continue growing, as it provides nutrients and oxygen). To date, the anti-angiogenic potential of the oil extracted from pomegranate seeds and juice on breast and lung cancer cells is known.
Finally, it also has an impact on tumor invasion, which is the mechanism used by the tumor to infiltrate neighboring tissues.
Clinical applications of pomegranate juice
The components of pomegranate have been used to treat different diseases for many years. However, it was not until the early 1990s that the first experimental and clinical studies were initiated.
In 2006, a group of researchers from the Department of Urology at the University of California conducted a clinical trial on the benefits of pomegranate in 46 men with prostate cancer, treated with surgery, radiotherapy or cryotherapy, who had elevated prostate-specific antigens (PSA) in their blood. These PSA are known as a tumor indicator of prostate cancer, a high level would be above 4 nanograms.
The research treatment consisted of 240ml of pomegranate juice per day, with a follow-up of 3 months. The objective was to observe the variation of PSA and the doubling time of these. The results showed a reduction of PSA figures in 16 patients of 35% and in 4 cases it decreased to more than 50%. The protein doubling time was extended from 15 months at baseline to 54 months.
At the same time, in vitro cell reproduction was studied by placing the patients’ serum in contact with a culture of prostate cancer cells. At 9 months after the start of the study, a 12% reduction in the proliferation of these cells and a 17% increase in apoptosis (cell death) were observed.
Both results suggest that pomegranate juice favors the delay of cancer development. To date, there are no further results on the effects of pomegranate juice on other types of tumors.