A compound found in red wine and dark chocolate is one of several potential cancer-preventing treatments set to be tested in a major new trial.
Resveratrol, which occurs naturally in grape skins, blueberries, cocoa beans and peanuts, among other plants, has widely been promoted as a health supplement over the years.
It has repeatedly been investigated since a 2006 study found fed a diet high in the compound developed fewer age-related diseases (though they didn’t live longer).
But its apparent promise has not yet translated into success in properly controlled clinical trials on humans.
To make matters more complicated, it’s one of several ‘con artist’ compounds that are known to often give false positives on the biochemical screening tests which researchers use to identify which substances are worth testing.
A 2016 study, led by Professor Karen Brown at the University of Leicester, found that low doses of resveratrol slowed the growth of tumour fragments which were taken from humans and kept ‘alive’ in lab settings.
It also found similar positive results in living mice.
The team argued the lack of clear success in previous studies could have been due to a ‘more is better’ assumption with the amount of resveratrol used.
Many proven drugs and treatments based on compounds found in plants work by feeding the body much bigger and more highly concentrated doses than humans can ingest by consuming those plants.
Prof Brown suggested resveratrol might be a rare case where ‘dietary achievable’ concentrations are the way to go.
This doesn’t mean a scientific case for knocking back red wine is on the horizon – alcohol is linked to higher risk of seven types of cancer, so purified resveratrol would be recommended over booze if the compound is proven effective.
She will now lead a trial on 1,300 people aged 50-73 who had polyps – growths which can become cancer in the future – found during NHS bowel cancer screenings.
‘With the Colo-Prevent trial, we are embarking on a unique experiment to see how drugs could stop bowel polyps from growing,’ Prof Brown said.
‘This trial could have big implications for how we prevent bowel cancer in people who are most likely to develop the disease as they get older.’
Other potential treatments to be assessed in the trial include aspirin and metformin, a medication prescribed to people with type 2 diabetes.
Patients will be given one potential treatment, or a placebo, for between one and three years.
At the end of that time period they’ll be given a colonoscopy to determine if the polyps have started growing again.
Not all patients have yet been recruited to the trial, which will take several years to complete.
Some 44,000 people a year are diagnosed with bowel cancer, the fourth most common cancer in the UK.
Dr Iain Foulkes, executive director of research and innovation at Cancer Research UK, which is funding the trial, said: ‘This trial opens the door to a new era of cancer research, where cancer becomes much more preventable through cutting-edge science.
‘The Colo-Prevent trial is one of the biggest trials into therapeutic prevention in the UK.
“The insights gained from the trial will change how we think about cancer prevention and give more people the chance of longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.’
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