Our laboratory is developing a food-based approach to the prevention of esophageal and colon cancer utilizing freeze-dried berries and berry extracts. Dietary freeze-dried berries were shown to inhibit chemically-induced cancer of the rodent esophagus by 30-60% and of the colon by up- to 80%. The berries are effective at both the initiation and promotion/progression stages of tumor development. Berries inhibit tumor initiation events by influencing carcinogen metabolism, resulting in reduced levels of carcinogen-induced DNA damage. They inhibit promotion/progression events by reducing the growth rate of premalignant cells, promoting apoptosis, reducing parameters of tissue inflammation and inhibiting angiogenesis. On a molecular level, berries modulate the expression of genes involved with proliferation, apoptosis, inflammation and angiogenesis. We have recently initiated clinical trials; results from a toxicity study indicated that freeze-dried black raspberries are well tolerated in humans when administered orally for 7 days at a dose of 45 grams per day. Several Phase IIa clinical trials are underway in patients at high risk for esophagus and colon cancer; i.e., Barrett’s esophagus, esophageal dysplasia and colonic polyps, to determine if berries will modulate various histological and molecular biomarkers of development of these diseases.
