Study: Grapefruit juice may inhibit tumor growth

Study: Grapefruit juice may inhibit tumor growth

U.S. study finds that a high concentration of the Material found in grapefruit could delay the spread of cancer tumors , in combination with a chemotherapy drug .

Hypothesis : the grapefruit juice prevents the breakdown of drug in the body and increases the duration of action.

Grapefruit is beneficial for cancer patients : new study reveals that a high concentration of the Ingredient found in grapefruit , combined with chemotherapy , may more effectively inhibit the proliferation of cancerous tumors in the body. The study was published in a Clinical Cancer Research journal and was conducted by scientists at the University of Chicago.

The researchers sought to investigate how the drug sirolimus , used to prevent rejection of the transplanted kidney , in people with cancer.
The problem with the active ingredient is that it Evacuates from the bloodstream before it can have a real impact on body tissues

The optimal dose of the Ingredient to effect cancer cells is too high , creating toxicity in the body and damages the digestive system.
 
According to the researchers , grapefruit juice inhibits the activity of enzymes in the digestive system which break down the drug within a few hours, so they speculated that it could help in destroying tumors by increasing the effectiveness of sirolimus , preventing dissolution and the extension of it in the body.
This way required lower doses of the drug to destroy the cancer .

The researchers examined 138 patients suffering from terminal cancer . At first patients were treated with sirolimus only , and then the patients were divided into two groups : the first continued medication only, and the other was treated with a combination of medication and grapefruit juice .

Data from the study indicate that similar results were found between patients receiving only sirolimus at a dose of 90 mg per week , and between patients who received 35-25 mg of sirolimus per week plus grapefruit juice .
The researchers calculated and find that grapefruit juice increases the effectiveness of sirolimus material at the rate of 350 % -500 % .

None of the patients in the study was fully healed from the cancer , but in 30 % of them there was a delay in the disease progression . In one of the patients was tumor shrinkage that lasted three years.

" This is the first drug for cancer that reveals efficiency combined with food ," The researchers wrote . According to them , as stated Grapefruit juice inhibits enzymes in the gut dismantling the drug, which increases the duration of action for a few days .

According to the researchers , there is no danger in high doses of grapefruit juice ,which makes it very efficient.