Black Raspberries and Extract Help Prevent Esophageal Cancer

About a year ago, I posted a research study indicating that black raspberries may help protect against esophageal cancer, particularly in patients with Barrett’s esophagus.

Concurrent with those findings, a new study has attributed this chemopreventive properties to anthocyanins, a class of flavonoids that inhibited growth and stimulated apoptosis in the esophagus of rats treated with an esophageal carcinogen. They have also found that anthocyanin-rich extracts of black raspberries were was nearly as effective in preventing esophageal cancer in rats as whole black raspberries containing the same concentration of anthocyanins.

This study is among the first to look at the correlation between anthocyanins and cancer prevention in vivo. Next, scientists hope to prove its efficacy in human cases.

Image: Own Archives