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Researchers analyzed whole tomato extracts for their ability to tackle gastric cancer cell lines and found that they can inhibit the growth of stomach cancer cells. This paves the way for novel therapies to treat gastric cancer.
Gastric cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer worldwide and has been associated with genetic causes, Helicobacter pylori infection, and eating habits, such as consumption of smoked and salted food.
Experiments analyzed whole tomato lipophilic extracts for their ability to tackle various neoplastic features of gastric cancer cell lines. Extracts of both two different Southern Italy cultivars the San Marzano and Corbarino tomato varieties were able to inhibit the growth and cloning behavior of malignant cells. Treatment with the whole tomato extracts affected key processes within the cells hindering their migration ability, arresting cell cycle through the modulation of retinoblastoma family proteins and specific cell cycle inhibitors, and ultimately inducing cancer cell death through apoptosis.
“Our results prompt further assessment of the potential use of specific nutrients not only in the cancer prevention setting but also as a supportive strategy along with conventional therapies,” says Prof. Antonio Giordano, Director of the Sbarro Institute for Molecular Medicine, Temple University and Professor of Pathology and Oncology at the University of Siena, Italy.
“This work stems from the SHRO research programme performed through a longstanding collaboration with the Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, University of Siena, and the Pascale Institute, CROM of Mercogliano. On the wake of these results Dr Attilio Bianchi, General Director of the Pascale Institute and CROM, and I teamed up to renew the collaboration with SHRO implementing the nutrigenomics studies for the benefit of cancer patients,” concludes Giordano.
The study is published in the Journal of Cellular Physiology.