Eating foods like broccoli and soy has been linked to lower cancer rates, and California researchers said that they may have discovered the biological mechanism behind the protective effect.
Using cells in a lab dish, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that diindolymethane (DIM), a compound resulting from digestion of cruciferous vegetables, and genistein, an isoflavone in soy, reduce the production of two proteins needed for breast and ovarian cancers to spread.
Cancer cells express very high levels of a surface receptor known as CXCR4, while the organs to which the cancers spread secrete high levels of CXCL12, a ligand that binds to that particular receptor. This attraction stimulates the invasive properties of cancer cells and acts like a homing device, drawing the cancer cells to organs like the liver or brain.
The study found that when cancer cells were treated with either DIM or genistein, movement toward CXCL12 is reduced by at least 80 percent compared to untreated cells.
TUONG NGUYEN
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