Lycopene Linked to Reduction in Uterine Fibroid Tumors
Lycopene, the
antioxidant found in tomatoes that gives them their red color,
may be able to reduce the size and incidence of fibroid tumors
based on an animal study presented at the annual Experimental
Biology meeting held in Washington D.C. in April, 2004. Fibroid
tumors, also known as leiomyomas or myomas, are benign tumors of
the uterus that affect millions of women.
STUDY FINDINGS: Researchers from Firat University in
Turkey, the University of Maryland and the Karmanos Cancer
Institute at Wayne State University in Detroit supplemented the
basic diet of Japanese quails with either 100 mg or 200 mg
lycopene per kg of food. After 10 months, the supplemented
quails had fewer leiomyomas compared to a control group fed only
the basic diet (10 percent versus 20 percent). In addition, the
average diameter of the tumors was significantly smaller in the
supplemented groups. The size of the tumors in the group
supplemented with 200 mg lycopene was also significantly smaller
than those in the group supplemented with 100 mg, indicating a
dose response effect of lycopene on the size of the tumors.
Japanese quails are thought to be an excellent model for
studying fibroid tumors since, as in humans, the tumors occur
spontaneously in the birds' oviduct, an organ similar to the
human uterus. Most other animal studies require introduction of
the tumors into the species.
In the present study, lycopene supplementation also appeared to
have a positive effect on the birds' serum concentrations of
vitamins C, E and A , homocysteine and malondialdehyde (MDA).
Previous studies have shown that serum levels of these vitamins
decrease in patients with uterine cervical cancers and that
biomarkers of oxidative stress, such as homocysteine in the
blood and MDA in the blood and liver, increase. After lycopene
supplementation, however, the vitamin levels of the supplemented
birds increased and the levels of homocysteine and MDA
decreased. The researchers also measured tissue concentrations
of the bcl-2 and bax, two proteins that are associated with cell
proliferation and cell destruction of tumors. There were no
significant differences in levels of these proteins among the
study groups.
RELATED INFORMATION: Fibroid tumors are growths that
arise from the muscle cells of the uterus that occur in
approximately 20 to 25 percent of all women but are even more
common in women over the age of 35. Although benign, fibroids
can cause heavy bleeding and pain during menstruation, pelvic
pain, miscarriage and infertility. Treatments usually involve in
the surgical removal of the tumors or, in some cases,
hysterectomy.2 Between
1980 and 1993, an estimated 8.6 million women above the age of
15 in the United States had a hysterectomy. The diagnosis most
often associated with hysterectomy was uterine leiomyoma; during
1988-1993, this diagnosis accounted for 62 percent of
hysterectomies among black women, 29 percent among white women,
and 45 percent among women of other races.3
Several observational and clinical studies have demonstrated
that lycopene supplementation may prevent or slow the
progression of certain cancers, particularly prostate cancer. In
the first clinical intervention trial to use lycopene
supplements, one of the authors of the present study, Omer Kucuk,
MD, of the Karmanos Cancer Institute, demonstrated that prostate
cancer patients who were given 15 mg of lycopene supplements
twice reduced the spread of their cancer.1
Sources:
Experimental Biology is the annual scientific conference of
the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology, a
coalition of societies involved in the study of biomedical and
life sciences.
Kucuk O, et al. Phase II randomized clinical trial of
lycopene supplementation before radical prostatectomy. Cancer
Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 10(8):861-868, August 2001.
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 1999
Lepine LA, Hillis SD, Marchbanks PA, Koonin LM, Morrow B, Kieke
BA, Wilcox LS. Hysterectomy surveillance--United States,
1980-1993. MMWR CDC Surveill Summ. 1997; 46(4):1-15.
This information is provided by the Vitamin Nutrition
Information Service (VNIS). The VNIS is funded by DSM
Nutritional Products, Inc. and was founded in 1979 as a source
of accurate and credible vitamin information for health
professionals, educators and communicators. The VNIS monitors
and disseminates vitamin research, sponsors professional
symposia on current vitamin topics and generates materials to
educate professionals about the roles of vitamins in health.
Key concepts: lycopene, tomato, uterine fibroid tumors
