Red Wine may Increase Effectiveness of Breast Cancer Drug

Breast cancer patients who use a specific drug to fight against the disease can improve its effectiveness by drinking red wine since it has an ingredient that increases the efficiency of the drug, a study reveals. Researchers from Ohio’s Cleveland Clinic found that an ingredient in red wine, known as resveratrol, enhances the effectiveness of the cancer drug rapamycin even on those cancer cells that are found to be resistant to the drug.

While rapamycin is usually used as an immunosuppressant to prevent the rejected on transplant organ, the drug is also known to have anti-cancer capabilities though clinical trials have shown that cancer cells quickly develop resistance to the drug.

However the latest study could provide a way to increase the drug’s effectiveness since the study has shown that rapamycin, when combined with resveratrol, can inhibit the growth of even those cancer cells that are resistant to the drug.

“If these observations hold true in the clinic setting, then enjoying a glass of red wine or eating a bowl of boiled peanuts - which has a higher resveratrol content than red wine - before rapamycin treatment for cancer might be a prudent approach”, lead researcher Dr Charis Eng wrote in the study which is published in the journal Cancer Letters.


Source-Medindia