IN a recent meta-analysis, scientists highlight the potential cancer-protective effects of nutrients found in certain plants, such as tomatoes, eggplant and potatoes.
Led by a team of researchers from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland, and published in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology, this research reviews the potential of the Solanaceae family of plants, which include potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants, as potential cancer treatments, focusing on the alkaloids they produce to protect themselves from parasites.
The researchers focused their attention on five types of naturally occurring compounds from the glycoalkaloid family found in Solanaceae plants.
The scientists found that, in the right dosage, glycoalkaloids have the potential to inhibit the growth of cancer cells and neutralise them, without the risk of damaging DNA or promoting the development of future tumours.
"Therapeutic compounds can be applied separately or in combination with other drugs to increase the efficiency of cancer therapy," say the study authors.
This is a potentially promising avenue of exploration, since a large part of the challenge for research in the fight against cancer involves finding treatments capable of neutralising cancer cells without damaging patients' healthy cells, something that treatments such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy are not able to do.
"Taken together, although the effects of glycoalkaloids on cells have been intensively studied, the precise mechanisms of their action in organisms remain to be elucidated.
"More research needs to be conducted to explore new, more selective and less toxic cancer therapies and improve the effectiveness of applied treatment methods," said the study authors.