Vegetables such as celery and artichokes contain flavonoids that can kill human pancreatic cancer cells, two new studies have found. 

 

Researchers from the University of Illinois found that the flavonoids apigenin and luteolin - also found in herbs, especially Mexican oregano - can kill human pancreatic cancer cells in the lab by inhibiting an important enzyme. 

 

"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," said Elvira de Mejia, a U of I professor of food chemistry and food toxicology. 

 

The trick seemed to be using the flavonoids as a pre-treatment instead of applying them and the chemotherapeutic drug simultaneously, said Jodee Johnson, a doctoral student in de Mejia's lab who has since graduated. 

 

"Even though the topic is still controversial, our study indicated that taking antioxidant supplements on the same day as chemotherapeutic drugs may negate the effect of those drugs," she said. 

 

"That happens because flavonoids can act as antioxidants. One of the ways that chemotherapeutic drugs kill cells is based on their pro-oxidant activity, meaning that flavonoids and chemotherapeutic drugs may compete with each other when they're introduced at the same time," she added. 

 

Pancreatic cancer is a very aggressive cancer, and there are few early symptoms, meaning that the disease is often not found before it has spread. 

 

Ultimately the goal is to develop a cure, but prolonging the lives of patients would be a significant development, Johnson added. 

 

The scientists found that apigenin inhibited an enzyme called glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK-3 beta), which led to a decrease in the production of anti-apoptotic genes in the pancreatic cancer cells. 

 

Apoptosis means that the cancer cell self-destructs because its DNA has been damaged. 

 

In one of the cancer cell lines, the percentage of cells undergoing apoptosis went from 8.4 per cent in cells that had not been treated with the flavonoid to 43.8 per cent in cells that had been treated with a 50-micromolar dose. 

 

In this case, no chemotherapy drug had been added. Treatment with the flavonoid also modified gene expression. 

 

"Certain genes associated with pro-inflammatory cytokines were highly upregulated," de Mejia said. 

 

Pancreatic cancer patients would probably not be able to eat enough flavonoid-rich foods to raise blood plasma levels of the flavonoid to an effective level. But scientists could design drugs that would achieve those concentrations, de Mejia said.


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