Chemicals in Red Wine and Grape Seeds May Benefit Breast Cancer Treatment, Study Finds

City of Hope
Monday, 1 December 2003

Certain chemicals found in high levels in red wine and grape seeds block the formation of estrogen, a key step in breast cancer tumor development, and could be useful in breast cancer treatment, according to research published in the December 1 issue of the journal Cancer Research.

The chemicals, which scientists call procyanidin B dimers, naturally reduce the activity of the aromatase enzyme. Aromatase is responsible for the conversion of androgen into the estrogen hormone, and excess estrogen causes breast cancer tumor growth in postmenopausal women, said the study's lead author, Shiuan Chen, Ph.D., director of Surgical Research, City of Hope Cancer Center.

"Our research suggests that fruits such as grapes contain natural substances that can act as aromatase inhibitors and can be beneficial as chemopreventative agents against breast cancer," Dr. Chen said.

He said aromatase inhibitors such as anastrozole, letrozole and exemestane are a new type of drug that have been shown to effectively control estrogen-dependent breast cancer development in postmenopausal women.

To search for natural substances that can suppress estrogen formation, Dr. Chen's research team studied a red wine sample, and using several kinds of scientific analysis--UV absorbance analysis, HPLC profiling, accurate mass-mass spectrometry and nanospray tandem mass spectrometry--found high levels of the procyanidin B dimers, a type of phytochemical that is present in grape seeds and grape skin.

Another analysis, inhibition kinetic analysis, showed the most potent procyanidin dimer blocked the binding of androgen to aromatase. By blocking or inhibiting the aromatase enzyme in a breast cancer tumor, an extract containing these chemicals taken orally was shown to suppress the breast cancer tumor growth in mice, Dr. Chen said.

"The results obtained from the animal studies are very important because they indicate that these phytochemicals are orally active and maintain their activity after ingested," he said.

Dr. Chen and his team next will conduct a clinical trial to evaluate the anti-aromatase activity of these chemicals in women.

In 2000, a research team led by Dr. Chen, a biochemist, immunologist and authority on hormone action in breast and prostate cancer, established that red wine and white button mushrooms can suppress estrogen formation and may help prevent breast cancer in postmenopausal women. His research has been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the California Breast Cancer Research Program.

With Dr. Chen, the research team consisted of Elizabeth Eng, Ph.D.; JingJing Ye, M.S.; Dudley Williams, Ph.D.; Sheryl Phung, M.S.; Roger E. Moore, M.S.; and Mary K Young, Ph.D.; all of City of Hope, and Ugis Gruntmanis, M.D., and Glenn Braunstein, M.D.; of Cedar-Sinai Medical Center-UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles.

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