Experts in the field of cellular physiology have validated it that extracts from tomatoes may prevent and even treat stomach cancer. Although several studies have suggested that tomatoes have anti-cancer properties, but a new study has further evidence on the findings.
The scientists from the United States and Italy have combined efforts on a research that produced the findings that whole extracts from two varieties of tomato – San Marzano and Corbarino – blocked the growth of stomach cancer cells and dampened their malignant characteristics.
According to the report on Medical News Today, and published in the Journal of Cellular Physiology, previous studies have suggested that compounds found in tomatoes – such as lycopene, a carotenoid that gives tomatoes their red colour – may help to fight cancer.
Although Nigerian researchers are yet to confirm whether these varieties of tomatoes are available in the country, but the good news is that you can eat yourself well from cancer, through adequate consumption of tomatoes.
Researchers from the United States and Italy found that Study co-author Prof. Antonio Giordano, director of the Sbarro Institute for Molecular Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, and colleagues recently reported their findings in the Journal of Cellular Physiology.
Also referred to as gastric cancer, stomach cancer is most common among older adults; around 60 percent of adults diagnosed with the disease are aged 65 or older.
To arrive at their findings, the scientists experimented the effects of whole extracts from San Marzano and Corbarino tomatoes on stomach cancer cell lines. Growth of stomach cancer cells halted with whole tomato extracts
It was found that each extract not only halted the growth of gastric cancer cells, but they also interfered with cell migration – whereby cancer cells begin to move away from the primary tumor to invade surrounding tissues – and led to cancer cell death.
Furthermore, the researchers found that the anti-cancer effects of the tomato extracts were not down to one particular compound.
“Their anti-tumoral effect seems not related to specific components, such as lycopene, but rather suggests that tomatoes should be considered in their entirety,” says study co-author Daniela Barone, of the Oncology Research Centre of Mercogliano in Italy.
According to the researchers, their findings indicate that whole tomato extracts may be useful for the prevention and treatment of stomach cancer.
