ISLAMABAD: A new study demonstrates how broccoli sprout extract activates a gene that detoxifies carcinogens in the body, serving to prevent cancer recurrence in people who have encountered head and neck cancer. It is no surprise that cruciferous vegetables – such as broccoli, cabbage, and garden cress – are good for our health. The study, published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, was led by Dr. Julie Bauman, co-director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Cancer Center in Pennsylvania. Methods of treating oral cancers include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, but they can be disfiguring and costly. Repeated exposure to carcinogens is the greatest risk factor for head and neck cancer. Cruciferous vegetables have a high concentration of sulforaphane; previous research has shown it can protect people against environmental carcinogens. Dr. Bauman notes that previous attempts to develop drugs to reduce the risk of head and neck cancer recurrence “have been inefficient, intolerable in patients and expensive. That led us to ‘green chemoprevention’ – the cost-effective development of treatments based upon whole plants or their extracts.” Not only did the study subjects have no significant problems tolerating the extract, but the lining of their mouths also showed that the same protective genetic pathway was activated in their mouths. The researchers say this means the sulforaphane was absorbed and focused on at-risk tissue. In a further experiment, the researchers used mice to see how the extract worked in those predisposed to head and neck cancer. Results showed that the mice that received the extract developed fewer tumors, compared with those that did not. In light of the successful studies, Dr. Bauman and her colleagues have initiated a larger clinical trial in humans who have previously been cured of head and neck cancer. The participants are currently taking capsules with broccoli seed powder. The researchers write: “Together, our findings demonstrate preclinical chemopreventive activity of sulforaphane against carcinogen-induced oral cancer, and support further mechanistic and clinical investigation of sulforaphane as a chemopreventive agent against tobacco-related HNSCC [head and neck squamous cell carcinoma].”