Vegetable attacks breast cancer

The extract from the common Indian vegetable karela (Bitter Gourd), may help in killing breast cancer cells and prevent them from multiplying, a US based researcher has found.

Missouri based Saint Pathology Professor Ratna Ray was surprised to observe that an extract from the stir-fried vegetable prevented the growth of breast cancer cells.

Her report was due for publication at press time.

“To our knowledge, this is the first report describing the effect of bitter melon extract on cancer cells.

“We have shown that bitter melon extract significantly induced death in breast cancer cells and decreased their growth and spread,” she said.

Professor Ray decided to study the impact of karela extract on breast cancer cells because earlier research had shown the substance lowered blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

Karela juice is commonly used as a folk medicine to treat diabetes in India and China.

Professor Ray conducted her research using human breast cancer cells in a controlled laboratory setting.

Her next step would be to test the extract in animals to see if it played a role in delaying the growth or in killing of breast cancer cells.

If those results are positive, human trials could follow.

While it is too early to know whether karela extract would help breast cancer patients, it was worth studying, she said.

“Cancer prevention by the use of naturally occurring dietary substances is considered a practical approach to reduce the ever-increasing incidence of the disease.

“Studying a high risk breast cancer population where bitter melon is taken as a dietary product will be an important area of future research,” Professor Ray said.

But she cautioned against considering karela as a miracle cure for breast cancer.

“Bitter melon is common in China and India, and women there still get breast cancer.”