Blueberries are widely recommended as part of a heart-healthy diet, but did you know they may also play a role in fighting cervical cancer?  Researchers at the University of Missouri found blueberry extract could make radiation therapy treatments more effective.

In a new study, Dr. Yujiang Fang’s team at the MU School of Medicine found that blueberry extract greatly improved the effectiveness of radiation therapy on cancer cells.

“We reduce the dosage of radiation, but the killing effect on cancers is not reduced, and it’s even enhanced,” Dr. Fang explained.

He said a chemical in blueberries called resveratrol acts as a radiosensitizer, meaning it makes cancer cells more sensitive to treatment.  With less radiation, doctors can reduce the side effects to healthy cells.

Dr. Fang said, “Drugs have so many side effects. We want to go back to see if there are natural chemicals that help us cure or prevent disease.”

Using cervical cancer cells in the lab, Dr. Fang  found that radiation reduced the number of cells by 20 percent. Over the same period, blueberry extract decreased the number by 25 percent. But , he said, the synergistic effect of both radiation and blueberry extract eliminated the number of cancer cells by a whopping 70  percent.
   
Dr. Fang said his earlier study showed that red grapes and red wine also function as radiosensitizers, but blueberries have the added benefit of reducing the growth of new cancer cells at the same time.

Now,  his team at MU is studying other fruits and vegetables for these properties.

“Pineapple extract, watermelon extract, apple peel extract, and we also do the pumpkin extract,” he said.

Doctor Fang said the next step in his research will involve testing these methods on other cancers.