COFFEE COMPOUNDS MAY REDUCE PROSTATE CANCER RISK
Besides being the perfect morning drink, coffee may also play a role in delaying prostate cancer, inds a study, which may pave the way for treating drug-resistant cancer. Scientists from Kanazawa University in Japan have identiied kahweol acetate and cafestol — hydrocarbon compounds naturally found in Arabica coffee — which may inhibit growth of prostate cancer. The pilot study showed kahweol acetate and cafestol can inhibit growth in cells that are resistant to common anti-cancer drugs like Cabazitaxel.
“We found that kahweol acetate and cafestol inhibited growth of cancer cells in mice, but the combination seemed to work synergistically, leading to a signiicantly slower tumour growth than in untreated mice,” said lead author Hiroaki Iwamoto.
For the study, presented at the European Association of Urology Congress in Barcelona, the team tested six compounds, naturally found in coffee, on proliferation of human prostate cancers cells in vitro (i.e. in a petri-dish). Although “these are promising indings, but they should not make people change their coffee consumption,” cautioned Professor Atsushi Mizokami from the varsity.
“Coffee can have both positive and negative effects. We need to ind out more about the mechanisms behind these indings before we can think about clinical applications. But if we can conirm these results, we may have candidates to treat drug-resistant prostate cancer,” Mizokami noted.