SYNTHESIS

Much of the literature claims that strawberries hold promising contributions to the field
of medicine through the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antiproliferative activities of
strawberries due to the presence of phytochemicals in the form of polyphenols which are known
to participate in disease prevention and contribute in protection from the development of cancer.
Several researchers affirm the anti-carcinogenic capacity of strawberries;
In the studies of Somasagara, Hegde, Chiruvella, Musini, Choudhary, and Raghavan
(2012), the consumption of strawberry fruits in the form of methanolic extract have the ability of
delaying tumoriginesis in carcinoma-injected mice. Upon the treatment of Methanolic Extract of
Strawberry, the mice showed significant reduction in the volume of the tumor compared to the
mice that were left untreated. In addition to this, the lifespan of the mice was observed to
increase significantly. Though the findings of the of the study have proven that strawberries serve
as a good chemopreventive and therapeutic agent there is still a hanging need for a study that
explores the anti-carcinogenic properties of strawberry further regarding the wide variety of
strawberries and the difference amongst the effects they yield.
The study of Weaver, Briscoe, Hou et al. (2009) focused on comparing the responses of
normal human epithelial cells and cancer cells from the prostate and the breast in vitro with the
use of the cytotoxic effect of polyphenols contained in strawberries. Through the results of the
said study, it was proven that there is the possibility that the tissue origin of the specimens
influence the mechanisms that were exhibited against the extract. The researchers concluded that
strawberry polyphenol had compelling effect to both tumor and normal cells however
cytotoxicity at different concentrations should be taken into consideration specifically because
the serum bio-availability of most strawberries displays lower level than that of the average
amount needed to reduce cell reproduction therefore acquiring this in vivo is not yet proven to be
possible and it would also be ideal to explore the mechanisms of the varying effect between the
normal and tumor cells from different tissues in vivo.
In other studies of postmenopausal women, researchers examined the association of
specific fruits with risk ER breast cancer. Comparing the results based on the frequency of
consumption per week, it was concluded that the higher intake of strawberries was said to be
associated with lowering the risk of developing ER breast cancer among postmenopausal
women. Given that this needs to be confirmed with furthermore studies.
A key concept in the significance of strawberries as an anti-carcinogenic agent is the role
of telomeres and telomerase in the development of cancer. There is an established relationship
between telomeres and telomerase and cellular aging and cancer that is considered important in
the alternative or natural cure for breast cancer. The conventional therapies such as
chemotherapies are expensive and bring fourth unintentional health drawbacks. Though initially
designed to purge cancer cells to stop or slow the growth of cancer cells, ---