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Compound in Red Wine, Grapes Could Help Treat Melanoma

Resveratrol appears to make some tumor cells more susceptible to radiation treatment

Oct 13, 2013 20:56 GMT  ·  By
Researchers say compound in grapes and red wine could be used to treat various forms of cancer
   Researchers say compound in grapes and red wine could be used to treat various forms of cancer

A chemical compound found not just in grapes but also in red wine could help doctors treat people diagnosed with a very aggressive form of skin cancer known as melanoma.

Writing in the Journal of Surgical Researcher, a publication of the Association for Academic Surgery, researchers explain that, according to their investigations, this chemical compound can act on some tumor cells, making them more susceptible to radiation treatment.

EurekAlert tells us that this chemical compound is known to the scientific community as resveratrol.

It has been previously documented to be able to help treat prostate cancer, and, by the looks of it, it could also prove effective against other tumor types.

Presently, the only problem is figuring out a way to administer the compound is such ways that it reaches tissues affected by cancer and ups the effectiveness of radiation treatment.

"We've seen glimmers of possibilities, and it seems that resveratrol could potentially be very important in treating a variety of cancers. It comes down to how to administer the resveratrol. If we can develop a successful way to deliver the compound to tumor sites, resveratrol could potentially be used to treat many types of cancers," says specialist Michael Nicholl with the University of Missouri.

"Melanoma is very tricky due to the nature of how the cancer cells travel throughout the body, but we envision resveratrol could be combined with radiation to treat symptomatic metastatic tumors, which can develop in the brain or bone," the researcher adds.

Although ordinary folks presently have access to over the counter resveratrol supplements, Michael Nicholl and his colleagues do not recommend that cancer patients start buying and taking them, and then expect to experience a noteworthy improvement in their condition.

They say that further studies are needed and that, for the time being at least, resveratrol is still a so-called investigative new drug. What's more, human clinical trials are not expected to be rolled out for at least several more years.