From: Matti Narkia on
The following 2007 AACR meeting abstract reports among other things
that pomegranate extract inhibits tumor angiogenesis and VEGF n human
prostate cancer cells in vitro and in vivo (in mice):

Abstract Number: 2574
Presentation Title: Pomegranate extract inhibits tumor
angiogenesis, hypoxia inducible
factor-1a, and vascular endothelial
growth factor in human prostate cancer
cells in vitro and in vivo.
Presentation Start/End Time: Monday, Apr 16, 2007, 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: Exhibit Hall, Los Angeles Convention
Center
Poster Section: 1
Poster Board Number: 10
Author Block: Maryam R. Sartippour, Navindra P.
Seeram, Aune Moro, David Heber. David
Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los
Angeles, CA
Abstract Body:

Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy in men and is the second
leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men in the Western world.
Hypoxia is commonly present within tumors and stimulates angiogenesis
via induction of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1a due to the poor
oxygenation resulting from tumor neovasculature. In order to determine
whether a pomegranate extract (POMX) known to inhibit prostate cancer
cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo can inhibit angiogenesis via
inhibition of HIF-1a, prostate cancer cells (LNCaP and DU-145) and
human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were grown under
normoxic and hypoxic conditions. We further examined the effect of
POMX administration over 4 weeks to immunoincompetent mice with a
prostate cancer cell (LAPC-4) xenograft on growth, HIF-1a, and
microvessel density. POMX suppressed the growth of LNCaP and DU-145
prostate cancer cells as well as HUVEC under both normoxic and hypoxic
conditions but to a greater extent under hypoxic conditions. A
decrease of HIF-1a protein expression of greater than 50% was seen at
POMX concentrations of 10 mg/ml for LNCaP and DU-145, and 1 mg/ml for
HUVEC under hypoxic conditions. Vascular endothelial growth factor
(VEGF) levels were measured in the medium and found to be decreased
under normoxic and to a greater extent under hypoxic conditions. POMX
decreased prostate cancer xenograft size and the tumor vessel density
after 4 weeks of treatment. Serum VEGF levels are being measured in
POMX-treated mice. These data demonstrate that POMX decreases HIF-1a
protein expression and inhibits the growth of prostate cancer cells as
well as HUVEC under hypoxic conditions. Thus, POMX may have the
potential to be used in prostate cancer treatment regimens where there
is an advantage to inhibiting tumor angiogenesis, and may be effective
under hypoxic conditions in tumor tissues.


--
Matti Narkia
From: J on
Matti Narkia wrote:

> The following 2007 AACR meeting abstract reports among other things
> that pomegranate extract inhibits tumor angiogenesis and VEGF n human
> prostate cancer cells in vitro and in vivo (in mice):

The mice die in testing and the cancer is limited by the size of the petri
dish.
J