Blackberries
are
recommended for breast cancer
The evidence that blackberries could be beneficial in fighting breast cancer is derived in part from studies of other berries, as well as of blackberries in particular.
Breast cancer-related effects of
eating
blackberries
Blackberries contain resveratrol, which has been shown to suppress the proliferation of breast tumor cells. This effect is independent of the estrogen receptor status (ER) of the cells. Resveratrol also induces apoptosis (cell death) of breast cancer cells. In addition, blackberries contain cyandin-3-glucoside, lignans, ellagic acid, the flavonoid myricetin and other potentially beneficial substances. Cyandin-3-glucoside has been shown to possess both chemo preventive and chemotherapeutic activity. Postmenopausal women with breast cancer and a high intake of plant lignans have been found to be less likely to die from their breast cancer than those with a low intake. Ellagic acid has been shown to inhibit cancer formation. Myricetin has antioxidant properties. The combination of chemicals in blackberries may more effectively prevent cancer than any one of the component chemicals alone.
Additional comments
Blackberries contain relatively high levels of phytoestrogens (in the form of lignans) compared to other berries. While it is often assumed that phytoestrogens bind to sites in the body reserved for estrogens, resulting in a beneficial reduction of estrogenic effects, the scientific verdict is not final on this topic.
Marionberries are a type of blackberry (a cultivar cross between Chehalem blackberries and Olallie blackberries). Loganberries are a hybrid cross between between a blackberry and a raspberry.
Tags:
blackberries,
lignan,
phytoestrogens,
resveratrol
Selected studies
High Intake of Dietary Lignans Improves Breast Cancer Survival
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Meeting, April 2008
A study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 2008 annual meeting examined the association between dietary lignan intake and breast cancer survival in 1122 women with confirmed breast cancer. Postmenopausal women with a high intake of plant lignans were significantly less likely to die from their breast cancer. High lignan consumption did not appear to have any effect on breast cancer survival in premenopausal women.
Characterization of Blackberry Extract and Its Antiproliferative and Anti-Inflammatory Properties
Journal of Medicinal Food, June 2007
Blackberries are rich in polyphenols, including anthocyanins. In vitro cell culture studies showed that the blackberry extract has potent antioxidant, antiproliferative, and anti-inflammatory activities.
Anthocyanin-rich berry extracts and epigallocatechin gallate reduce the enhanced invasiveness of estrogen-negative human breast carcinoma cells elicited by serum
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Meeting, April 2007
It has been hypothesized that fruit and vegetable intake might provide protection again estrogen-negative breast cancer but not against estrogen-positive breast cancer. The current study was to designed to elucidate a mechanism by which fruit intake might provide protection against ER-negative but not ER-positive breast cancer. ER-negative breast cancer cells have a much greater capacity than ER-positive cells to migrate, invade and proliferate at the site of metastasis. The study tested whether anthocyanin-rich fruit extracts (red grape skin, bilberry, blackberry, fermented-grape, and black currant) inhibited the motility of a highly invasive line of ER-negative breast cancer cells. All of the tested anthocyanin-rich fruit extracts were effective, however their respective potency differed markedly. The grape and bilberry extracts provided the greatest ability to inhibit the migration and invasiveness of ER-negative breast cancer cells and this protection was correlated with the dose.
Blackberry, Black Raspberry, Blueberry, Cranberry, Red Raspberry, and Strawberry Extracts Inhibit Growth and Stimulate Apoptosis of Human Cancer Cells In Vitro
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, November 2006
In the present study, extracts of six berries (blackberry, black raspberry, blueberry, cranberry, red raspberry and strawberry) were evaluated for their phenolic constituents and ability to inhibit growth of various human cancer cell lines. Berries contain a remarkable range of phytochemicals with biological properties such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer, and anti-neurodegenerative activities. The main classes of berry phenolics were found to be anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, flavonols, ellagitannins, gallotannins, and phenolic acids. The berry extracts were evaluated for their ability to inhibit the growth of human oral (KB, CAL-27), breast (MCF-7), prostate (LNCaP), and colon (HT-29, HCT116) cancer cell lines at concentrations varying from 25 to 200 μg/mL. The growth of all the tumor cells was found to be inhibited increasingly with increasing concentrations of berry extract, with different degrees of potency for different berries and cell lines. The extracts were also evaluated for their ability to increase apoptosis of the COX-2 expressing colon cancer cell line, HT-29. Black raspberry and strawberry extracts were found to have the most significant pro-apoptotic effects against these cells.
Cyanidin-3-glucoside, a Natural Product Derived from Blackberry, Exhibits Chemo preventive and Chemotherapeutic Activity
Journal of Biological Chemistry, June 2006
In vivo studies indicated that treatment with cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G), a compound found in blackberries, decreased the number of non-malignant and malignant induced skin tumors per mouse and significantly inhibited metastasis.
