14 DAY TRIAL // People should eat more fruits and vegetables, doctors often advise, and they also highly recommend broccoli. Besides large amounts of vitamins C, A and K and dietary fiber it has anti-cancer properties. Scientists recently found the link between eating broccoli and reducing prostate cancer risk, and published their conclusions in the Molecular Cancer journal.
The anti-cancer molecule in broccoli is called sulforaphane. This chemical is very useful to organisms lacking the gene called PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog), because it helps reduce prostate cancer developing risks. This gene produces a protein found in almost all body tissues, that suppresses tumors. It does this by preventing cells to multiply too fast and by regulating their life duration. It also secures a cell's genetic information and directs all cell movement inside the body.
Experiments on human prostate tissue and mice suffering from prostate cancer were made to test interactions between the PTEN gene and sulforaphane. Richard Mithen, from the Institute of Food Research, member of BBSRC (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council), along with a team of researchers from Norwich Research Park, UK, concluded that if the PTEN gene is present inside a body, then the sulforaphane has absolutely no anti-cancer effect. Nevertheless if this gene lacks, then SF makes cancer cells less competitive, thus reduces their activity. This is the explanation of the link between broccoli and cancer prevention and according to Mithen, “this also suggests potential therapeutic applications of sulforaphane and related compounds”.
Prostate cancer forms in tissues around the prostate and usually occurs in older men. The prostate is a gland in the reproductive male system, that is very likely to cause small problems with age. According to the National Cancer Institute, in the United States in 2010 are estimated 217,730 new cases of prostate cancer and 32,050 deaths caused by it.