The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #73360

Robeena M. Aziz, Ohio State University, 300 W. 10th Ave, Columbus, OH 43220, (614) 293-3713, aziz.4@osu.edu

The incidence of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the human esophagus has been linked to diets deficient in fruit and vegetables. Recently, we took a “food based” approach to prevention of esophageal SCC and found that administration of freeze-dried strawberries and black raspberries, at concentrations of 5 and 10% in the diet, reduced esophageal tumors induced by the carcinogen, N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine (NMBA), by 40-60% in rats. In the present study, we determined if berries might also exhibit therapeutic effects against esophageal cancer. Six week-old male F344 rats were placed on AIN-76A diet and injected with 0.5 mg/kg NMBA once per week for 15 weeks. Four weeks later, when they had an average of 5 to 6 papillomas per esophagus, the rats were started on diets containing either 0, 5, 10, or 20% freeze-dried black raspberries. For several weeks after initiation of berry treatment, the survival of rats in berry-fed groups was higher than in rats fed control diet. After seven weeks of berry treatment, all surviving rats were sacrificed and esophageal tumor incidence, multiplicity and size determined. In animals fed 10% and 20% black raspberries, there were no significant differences in tumor incidence, multiplicity or size when compared to carcinogen controls. In contrast, rats fed 5% black raspberries had a significant (p<0.05) reduction in tumor multiplicity when compared to carcinogen controls. These results suggest that freeze-dried black raspberries may have therapeutic value for the treatment of esophageal cancer. Studies are underway to confirm the therapeutic effect of berries on esophageal tumorigenesis.

Learning Objectives:

• At the end of the presentation, I would like to demonstrate that freeze-dried berries are potentially a useful chemopreventive agent at inhibiting certain types of cancer. This information is extremely beneficial in the field of health, nutrition and especially cancer research because taking a food-based approach to cancer is always preferable than currently used therapy.

Related Web page: www.asph.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.