Nora Ko June 6, 2012

Are Antioxidants Helpful in Preventing Cancer?

Cancer is the second leading cause of death for adults in North America. (7) Antioxidants such as vitamin E, vitamin C, beta carotene, selenium, and certain phytochemicals can protect cells from oxidative damage caused by the free radicals. Dietary sources rich in antioxidant phytochemicals are yellow-orange and green leafy type fruits and vegetables, and whole grains. By definition, free radicals are unstable chemical molecules that are negatively charged, and can be carcinogenic, which means that they can potentially cause cancer (2) Some studies claim that antioxidant properties have no effect on cancer prevention, or that the evidence remain inconclusive; however, other sources conclude that antioxidant activity indeed has an anti-cancer effect. According to Wardlaw G.M. and Smiths contemporary nutrition textbook, the antioxidant activity of vitamin C and vitamin E helps to prevent formation of nitrosamines in the gastrointestinal tract, thus preventing forming of a potent carcinogen. (7) Nitrosamine is a carcinogen formed from nitrates and breakdown products of amino acids, which can lead to stomach cancer. (7) Do antioxidants have chemopreventive properties that can help reduce the risk of cancer? It has long been established by the International Agency for Research in Cancer that the Helicobacter Pylori infection is a risk factor for cancer. (4) The mechanism for how this happens is unclear, but scientists predict that it involves the reaction of reactive oxygen species (ROS), or more simply, harmful free radicals, generated in the inflammatory response with DNA, and consequently cause DNA damage. (4) It is known that ROS increases in association with H.

Pylori, and are known to be capable of causing a variety of DNA lesions and mutations. (4) Studies have shown that dietary ascorbic acid appears to protect against stomach cancer. The purpose of this metabolic study is to find out if ascorbic acid indeed reduces stomach cancer. Out of the eighty-two patients in the experiment, 37 of them had a H. pylori-associated precursor to cancer. (4) Subjects were recruited from patients undergoing upper intestinal endoscopy for dyspepsia, which basically means a visual examination of the inside of the stomach and intestines for dyspepsia, an indigestion disease that is often painful and disturbing. Four types of stomach tissues were taken for examination of the presence of cancer. A complex series of scientific methods was conducted to measure chemiluminescence, vitamin C, and ascorbyl radicals. As a result, by spectroscope, scientists demonstrated that ascorbyl radicals are created in the human gastric mucosa (inner membrane layer of the stomach), and that they significantly scavenge carcinogenic free radicals. (4) To conclude, the experiments provide direct evidence that the antioxidant of ascorbic acid protects against stomach cancer by hunting down reactive radical species which would otherwise react with DNA, resulting in genetic damage. (4) Another study involving animals and less complicated scientific methods, demonstrated that ginger, a traditional oriental medicine possessing phytochemicals gingerol, shogaol, and zingerone, have chemopreventive effects on colon cancer. Evidence from epidemiological studies suggests a relationship between colon cancer and dietary habits, which prompted further investigation. In this study, animals are injected with the chemical 1,2-Dimethylhydrazine (DMH), which is a known cancer-causing reagent. Experimental colon cancer caused by DMH in rats is a multistage cellular process that mimics human colon cancer. (6) Thus, the purpose of

this metabolic animal study was to determine whether or not ginger has the ability to suppress colon cancer in humans through the study of rats. In the lab, Wistar male rats were randomly put into five groups of ten animals each. Group 1 was the control; Group 2 received ginger every day; Group 3 to 5 received weekly injections of DMH in the groin for fifteen weeks. Group 4 rats received ginger a week before and a week after the DMH injections, and Group 5 received ginger a week after the end of DMH. The number of tumors found was recorded, and their tumor sizes were also measured. (6) The results showed that there were no tumors in the control rats, ginger-treated rats, nor those that were ginger-treated while having cancer. In Group 3, the rats that were only injected with DMH, cancer tumor incidence was 100%, and the average size of the tumor was 2 cm. (6) Tumor size and tumor incidence were significantly reduced in the rats that were ginger-treated after cancer. In conclusion, the results strongly suggest that administering ginger to rats with colon cancer significantly reduced tumor sizes. (6) While this fascinating metabolic study was conducted on animals in mimicry of humans, another study in Belgium involved actual humans and their intake of the antioxidant selenium. Selenium is an essential trace element for humans and is required for growth, and can be found in most whole foods. Geographic studies have shown an inverse relationship between selenium concentrations in the soil and cancer mortality, which sparked the interest of this epidemiological study to examine the association between selenium concentrations in blood, and bladder cancer risk in humans. (5) A case-control study of 178 cases (bladder cancer patients) and 362 controls (healthy individuals) had been assessed. (5) Cases, participants with cancer, were selected from the
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Limburg Cancer Registry and were approached through urologists and general practitioners. (5) Three trained interviewers visited the cases and controls at home. A structured interview was conducted, and a food frequency questionnaire containing 788 food items was given. The participants were also asked to estimate their usual diet up to 12 months prior to the interview. Then, a blood sample was drawn at the moment of the interview, and was later analyzed for level of selenium concentration in random order. (5) External variables like smoking, low fruits and vegetable intake, sex, age, and occupational exposure were also accounted for, and modifications were made. (5) The results showed that the average concentration of selenium in cases (78.77g/L) was significantly lower than in the control (92.31g/L). (5) In conclusion, the study indicated that lower selenium levels in the blood are inversely related to bladder cancer. A higher diet intake of the antioxidant selenium evidently lowers the risk of getting bladder cancer. In summary, antioxidants have been proven to have chemopreventive properties that help prevent and fight against cancer. Ascorbic acid has been found to scavenge carcinogenic free radicals that would otherwise cause DNA damage and induce cancer. Phytochemicals with antioxidant properties in ginger was determined to suppress cancer tumors in DMH injected Wistar rats, and lastly, selenium has been shown to be inversely related to the incidence of bladder cancer in humans. Although there are limitations to the cancer research in humans due to ethical issues, the field of cancer prevention should most definitely be further studied, especially in animals such as lab rats. Because there is not yet a cure for cancer and that cancer patients suffer from extreme pain in chemotherapy in hopes to live longer, knowledge of dietary measures to prevent such a deadly disease is imperative.

References
1. Ana Catarina Mamede, Sonia Dorilde Tavares, Ana Margarida Abrantes, Joana Trindade, Jorge Manuel Maia and Maria Filomena Botelho (2011): The Role of Vitamins in Cancer: A Review. Nutrition and Cancer, 63: 4, 479-494 2. Applegate, Liz. Nutrition Basics: For Better Health and Performance. 3rd edition. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, p. 233. 3. "Food Facts." Nutrition Institute. Dole Food Company, Inc, 2012. Web. 15 May 2012. <http://www.dole.com/F%20-%20K/tabid/999/Default.aspx>. 4. Ian M.Drake3, Michael J.Davies1-2, Nic P.Mapstone, Michael F.Dixon, Chris J.Schorah, Kay L.M.White, Douglas M.Chalmers and Anthony T.R.Axon. Ascorbic acid may protect against human gastric cancer byscavenging mucosal oxygen radicals. Carcinogenesis 1996, 17(3): 559-562. 5. Kellen, Eliane, Maurice Z, and Frank B: Selenium is Inversely Associated with Bladder Cancer Risk: A report from the Belgian CaseControl Study on Bladder Cancer. International Journal of Urology 2006, 13(9): 1180 1184. 6. Vaiyapuri Manju, Namasivayam Nalini: Chemopreventive Efficacy of Ginger, a Naturally Occurring Anticarcinogen during the Initiation, Post-initiation Stages of 1,2 Dimehtylhydrazine-Induced Colon Cancer. Clinica Chimica Acta 2005, 358: 60- 67. 7. Wardlaw, G.M. and Smith. Contemporary Nutrition: Issues and Insights. 6th edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill, pp. 282 - 287, 2006.