FRIDAY, Jan. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC), found in broccoli, cabbage and other cruciferous vegetables, can induce apoptosis in human pancreatic cancer cells, according to research published in the Feb. 4 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Ravi P. Sahu, Ph.D., and Sanjay K. Srivastava, Ph.D., of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Amarillo, Texas, treated five pancreatic cancer cell lines with varying concentrations of BITC. They also assessed the effects of BITC treatment on human pancreatic cancer cell xenografts in mice.
The use of BITC induced apoptosis and inhibited cell survival in BxPC-3, AsPC-1, Capan-2, and MiaPaCa-2 cells, and to a smaller degree in Panc-1 cells, the researchers report. The apoptosis was associated with notable decreases in activated STAT-3 and total STAT-3 protein levels. Compared to controls, mice given BITC showed significantly reduced tumor growth at six weeks, the investigators found.
"Epidemiological studies continue to support the notion that dietary intake of cruciferous vegetables may reduce the risk of different types of malignancies, including pancreatic cancer. Our data suggest that BITC is relatively safe to normal pancreatic cells and also safe to mice as established previously and in this study," the authors write. "Because the pharmacokinetics of BITC in humans have not been determined, it is difficult to predict how much cruciferous vegetable would need to be consumed to clinically achieve a serum concentration of 10 μM BITC, the concentration that was most effective in inhibiting STAT-3 activation in our model."
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