Pomegranate extract fights prostate cancer in lab tests

Pomegranate juice may be able to prevent prostate cancer if initial findings in the lab can be confirmed in humans, say US researchers.

Their study is the latest in a line of studies to be published on the health benefits of this fruit, originally native to the Middle East.

Much of the recent focus has been on heart health properties but already by 2001, the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology had reported that pomegranate seed oil triggered apoptosis in breast cancer cells.

University of Wisconsin researchers have also shown that the antioxidant-rich pomegranate is effective against tumours in mouse skin.

In the new trial, a team from the same institute found that an extract of the fruit had a dose-dependant effect on human prostate cancer cells cultured in laboratory dishes.

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