Can Flavonoids Prevent Cancer?

The flavonoids genistein, luteolin and quercetin successfully curtail several damaging processes that may lead to cancer, say researchers at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. Flavonoids, which occur naturally in plant foods such as citrus, berries, legumes, parsley, green tea and red wine, are the water-soluble pigments that give plants their color.

Qiuyan Cai and colleagues in the university's department of pharmacology and toxicology tested the ability of the three flavonoids to quench free radicals, reduce DNA damage and prevent lipid peroxidation--processes that contribute to cancer, heart disease and other chronic illnesses associated with aging. The net result: all three flavonoids performed well.

For instance, each flavonoid, even in low concentrations, inhibited DNA damage by UV light. At the highest concentrations (1 mM), luteolin reduced DNA damage by almost 90 percent, quercetin by 75 percent and genistein by 60 percent.

The authors speculated that flavonoids may help prevent cancer by scavenging free radicals and preventing oxidative damage to molecules such as DNA and cholesterol.

--Cancer Letters, 119: 99-107, October 1997

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