LOS ANGELES (KABC) — It’s no secret many fruits and vegetables contain disease fighting properties. Different phytochemicals act on human cells in different ways. Now local scientists have some proof that the popular blueberry can have a direct effect on a certain type of cancer.
City of Hope researchers aren’t making smoothies on their lunch break, they’re taking a close look at the powerful phytochemicals in blueberries.
“It possibly could prevent the spread of the cancer,” said City of Hope research fellow Lynn S. Adams, Ph.D.
And not just any cancer, but one that generally carries a poorer prognosis — triple-negative breast cancers. Triple-negative tumors are not driven by estrogen, progesterone or HER2 proteins, so it can’t be treated with latest targeted therapies.
“The feature of the cancer tends to be very aggressive,” said Shiuan Chen, Ph.D., director of City of Hope’s Division of Tumor Cell Biology.
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