Lee Swanson Research Update

Blueberries May Reduce Childhood Cancer Risk

March 2009

Extracts from blueberries may reduce the size of tumors primarily found in infants and children, and improve survival, a new study with mice suggests.

According to results from Ohio State University, mice fed a blueberry extract doubled their lifespan and had tumors 60% smaller than those in control mice.

Writing in the journal Antioxidants & Redox Signaling, the researchers reported their findings against tumors in walls of blood vessels called hemangionendotheliomas (HE), which affect about three percent of children. Such tumors usually occur within four weeks of birth and more often affect premature infants. Although such tumors are often resolved naturally, they may reoccur and cause deformity, and can be life-threatening if they obstruct the airways.

"This work provides the first evidence demonstrating that blueberry extract can limit tumor formation by inhibiting the formation of blood vessels and inhibiting certain signaling pathways," said lead author Gayle Gordillo. "Oral administration of blueberry extract represents a potential therapeutic strategy [against] endothelial cell tumors in children."

The research could boost further the healthy image of the berry, already firmly engrained in consumers’ minds for its apparent cholesterol-lowering abilities, as well as indications that the fruit could offer protection from neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Gordillo and her co-workers investigated if oral consumption of blueberry extracts could be effective in managing HE and, if so, what the mechanism could be.

Mice received different doses of the extract, with a dose-dependent decrease in HE tumor size recorded, in addition to "significantly enhanced survival," said the researchers.

"Our hope is that if we feed blueberry juice to a child with this type of tumor, we can intervene and shrink the tumor before it becomes a big problem," said Gordillo. "Our next step is a pilot study with humans to see if we can measure response to the treatment using imaging techniques and the monitoring of chemical changes in the urine."

Antioxidants & Redox Signaling 11(1):47-58, 2009

New to Natural Health?
Tools
Customer Service