Raspberries Could Provide Hope for Oral Cancer Patients
Oral cancer has become increasingly prevalent in recent years and studies show that up to a third of oral cancer patients experience recurrences once cancerous lesions have been removed from the mouth or throat.
Researchers have been working on new treatments to reduce the risk of cancer returning after treatment and a surprise therapy has emerged, giving hope to oral cancer patients. After 30 years of research into treatments and therapies at Ohio State University College of Dentistry, Dr Susan Mallery, has discovered that the answer may lie in a combination of black raspberries and fenretinide.
Dr Susan Mallery has been working with professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery, Peter Hansen and Gary Stoner, a professor of Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin, on a pilot study, which involved using a topical gel made from freeze-dried black raspberries. The gel was applied to pre-cancerous oral lesions and results revealed that the gel helped to reduce pre-cancerous signs.
Dr Mallery said that the early results of the study were promising and the team is now ready to proceed with molecular analysis, which will focus on the role of important genes that control cell growth.
Dr Mallery said that one of the major challenges was that it was currently impossible to determine which pre-cancerous lesions will develop into cancerous lesions.
According to known mechanisms of berry compound function, the treatment is said to work by preventing damaged cells from dividing any further.
The ultimate goal is to develop mouthwashes and gels containing the berry compound to create an “impermeable membrane”; Dr Mallery described this potential product as a “home run.”
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