Broccoli and chillies 'inhibit growth of cancers'

Broccoli and red chillies may prevent or slow the growth of two of the deadliest cancers, researchers revealed today.

Ovarian and pancreatic cancers are particularly aggressive and many patients who develop them do not survive despite treatment.

Medical researchers working to discover how so-called "superfoods" help the body fight certain diseases looked at the role diet played in fighting the cancers.

They studied the therapeutic effect of capsaicin, the "hot" ingredient in red chilli pepper, and found that it displayed anti-cancer activity against pancreatic cancer cells.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive cancers with an extremely poor prognosis.

The doctors treated human pancreatic cells with capsaicin and found that it caused cell death in the cancerous cells without affecting normal pancreatic cells.

In a second study they examined a protein found in broccoli and its effects on ovarian cancer which is often detected at a late stage, making it more difficult to treat. They found the protein - called phenethyl isothiocyanate - inhibited the growth of the cancer cells and that amounts of it taken in as part of a normal diet may be enough to be effective.

The findings were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research in California-Lead researcher, Sanjay-Srivastava, of the University of Pittsburgh, said: "The contribution of diet and nutrition to cancer risk, prevention and treatment has been a major focus of research in recent years.

"Certain nutrients in vegetables and dietary agents appear to protect the body against diseases such as cancer.

"Our results demonstrate that capsaicin is a potent anticancer agent... and produces no significant damage to normal pancreatic cells, indicating its potential use as a novel chemotherapeutic agent for pancreatic cancer."