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Hops can help fight cancer, study finds

A plant known for being used in beer could also help fight cancer, new research at Oregon State University shows.
Credit: Oregon State University

CORVALLIS, Ore. — The plant that adds flavor and color to beer also produces a compound that fights cancer cells, according to researchers at Oregon State University.  And now two derivatives of that compound are showing promise to do the same.

More than 20 years ago the main compound, xanthohumol, also know as XN, showed it inhibits growth in a variety of cancer cells.

Researchers say, for the first time, that the derivatives have cancer-fighting effectiveness similar to that of XN in liver and colon carcinomas. That means the derivatives are good alternatives for testing, along with XN, in future pre-clinical studies.

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cause of cancer-related death in the United States, and liver cancer ranks fifth. The incidence of liver cancer, though, has tripled in the last four decades

“For both of those cancers, discovering new compounds for prevention and treatment is imperative,” said the study’s corresponding author, Adrian Gombart, professor of biochemistry and biophysics in the College of Science at Oregon State University and principal investigator at OSU’s Linus Pauling Institute.

The study was published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences. You can click here to read the complete study.


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