September 16/Denver/Science Letter -- A report, "Anticancer and Cancer Chemopreventive Potential of Grape Seed Extract and Other Grape-based Products," is newly published data in Journal of Nutrition. "With emerging trends in the incidence of cancer of various organ sites, additional approaches are needed to control human malignancies. Intervention or prevention of cancer by dietary constituents, a strategy defined as chemoprevention, holds great promise in our conquest to control cancer, because it can be implemented on a broader population base with less economic burden," scientists writing in the Journal of Nutrition report.

"Consistent with this, several epidemiological studies have shown that populations that consume diets rich in fruits and vegetables have an overall lower cancer incidence. Based on these encouraging observations, research efforts from across the globe have focused on identifying, characterizing, and providing scientific basis to the efficacy of various phytonutrients in an effort to develop effective strategy to control various human malignancies. Cancer induction, growth and progression are multi-step events and numerous studies have demonstrated that various dietary agents interfere with these stages of cancer, thus blocking malignancy. Fruits and vegetables represent untapped reservoir of various nutritive and nonnutritive phytochemicals with potential cancer chemopreventive activity. Grapes and grape-based products are one such class of dietary products that have shown cancer chemopreventive potential and are also known to improve overall human health. This review focuses on recent advancements in cancer chemopreventive and anticancer efficacy of grape seed extract and other grape-based products," wrote M. Kaur and colleagues, University of Colorado, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

The researchers concluded, "Overall, completed studies from various scientific groups conclude that both grapes and grape-based products are excellent sources of various anticancer agents, and their regular consumption should thus be beneficial to the general population."

Kaur and colleagues published their study in the Journal of Nutrition ("Anticancer and Cancer Chemopreventive Potential of Grape Seed Extract and Other Grape-based Products," Journal of Nutrition, 2009;139(9):1806S-12S).

Additional information can be obtained by contacting M. Kaur, University of Colorado, Dept. of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, Denver, CO 80045.

From the October 4, 2010, Prepared Foods E-dition