Medical News Today reports that packing on celery, artichokes, and herbs like Mexican oregano may help patients battle pancreatic cancer.
Researchers from the University of Illinois have found that flavonoids called apigenin may kill pancreatic cancer cells by inhibiting a certain enzyme called synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β), which may then lead to the self-destruction of cancer cells. In fact, their study showed that a 50-micromolar dose of the flavonoids increased the rate of cancer cell self-destruction from 8.4 percent to 43.8 percent.
“Apigenin alone induced cell death in two aggressive human pancreatic cancer cell lines. But we received the best results when we pre-treated cancer cells with apigenin for 24 hours, then applied the chemotherapeutic drug gemcitabine for 36 hours," Professor Elvira de Mejia explains.
Of course, the effect of celery’s apigenin doesn’t only apply to those fighting the Big C, but to healthy individuals as well. "If you eat a lot of fruits and vegetables throughout your life, you'll have chronic exposure to these bioactive flavonoids, which would certainly help to reduce the risk of cancer." De Mejia concludes.
(Photo by J R via Flickr Creative Commons)
