Scientists to probe if grape juice chemical can prevent bowel cancer

UK scientists are launching a trial to explore whether an ingredient commonly found in grape juice and wine could keep bowel cancer at bay.

Bowel cancer, also known as colorectal cancer, is a type of cancer that starts in the large bowel, including the colon and rectum.

The team will probe a chemical called resveratrol -- a naturally occurring ingredient found in grapes, blueberries, raspberries, and peanuts -- for potential cancer prevention.

The trial, led by researchers at the University of Leicester, UK, is also testing multiple potential prevention drugs for bowel cancer, including aspirin and metformin.

While drinking red wine does not prevent cancer, and is a major risk factor, the research focussed on purified resveratrol.

Karen Brown, Professor of Translational Cancer Research at the University of Leicester said that with advanced screening methods, early detection of bowel cancer has become easier. She further noted that the best way to prevent bowel cancer “is to improve our lifestyles -- stopping smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, reducing alcohol consumption and having a healthy, balanced diet”.

However, with the new trial, funded by Cancer Research UK, the team aims to conduct a “unique experiment to see how drugs could stop bowel polyps from growing”.

Brown said the results can have wider “implications for how we prevent bowel cancer in people who are most likely to develop the disease as they get older.”

The team aims to enroll 1,300 patients at 60 locations in England and Wales.

Participants in the trial will have their polyps removed and will then receive a treatment – either aspirin or aspirin and metformin in the main trial or resveratrol or a placebo in the sub-study.

Those receiving aspirin or aspirin and metformin will take these drugs daily over three years, while those on resveratrol or the dummy tablet will take it for a year. Afterwards, all groups will be given colonoscopies to see if polyps have started growing again, and if so, how big they are compared to the ones removed at the start of the trial.

If the trial is successful, any of the treatments tested could be offered to people eligible for the NHS Bowel Screening Programme to reduce the chance of bowel polyps forming, and with that reduce the risk of bowel cancer in the future.