Esophageal cancer is common inChina, with about 50% of the world wide cases of esophageal cancer reported inChinaalone. The important causative agents of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma are nitrosamine carcinogens, which are present in tobacco smoke.
Now, a pilot study indicated that individuals who are at high risk of esophageal cancer might able to prevent the cancer by eating strawberries.
The results, presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 102nd Annual Meeting, showed that after eating strawberries for 6 months can improve the histologic grade (tissue structure) of individuals with esophageal dysplastic lesions (abnormal cell growth in the esophagus).
The investigators recruited 36 patients to complete the study. 31 patients were diagnosed with mild dysplasia (86.11%) and 5 were diagnosed with moderate dysplasia (13.89%). All participants underwent a pre/post-esophageal endoscopy/biopsy and completed the dietary strawberry diary.
The results indicated that participants who have mild dysplasia and consumed 60g of freeze-dried strawberries every day for 6 months experienced an improvement in the histologic grade of the esophagus.
In patients with moderate dysplasia, histologic grade improved in 3 patients and remained unchanged in 2 patients.
Strawberry consumption also reduced the enzymes (nitric oxide synthase, yclooxygenase-2, phospho-NFκB-p65) related to tumor growth.
Strawberries are safe, readily available, inexpensive, and are a good source of a number of vitamins and minerals. If you want to prevent esophagus cancer, remember to get some strawberries when you do grocery shopping next time.
Source: American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 102nd Annual Meeting: Abstract LB-465. Presented April 6, 2011.
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