2008 research | 2007 research

British watercress farmers are launching a new cancer research project in 2008 investigating watercress’s anti-cancer potential in relation to breast cancer.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the Western world and currently affects approximately 1 in 9 women during their lifetime. The new clinical study, which will complete in October 2009, will be led by Professor Graham Packham, Cancer Research UK Professor of Molecular Oncology at the University of Southampton. Clinical aspects of the study will be overseen by Dr R Rainsbury, Director of the Breast Unit at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester and Andover.  The study aims to identify the components of watercress that circulate within the body after digestion and to measure their ability to suppress breast cancer cell development.

The study will be undertaken in two phases. The first phase aims to determine the blood plasma levels of watercress-derived compounds in 12 female volunteers. The women will each ingest 80g of watercress and provide blood samples at specific time points which will then be analysed for chemical compounds known to be active versus cancer. In phase two breast cancer cells will be exposed to watercress extracts that mimic concentrations found in the blood and monitored to investigate the effect on specific molecular pathways which have been selected for their importance for the growth and survival of breast cancer cells.

Professor Packham commented:

“Numerous in-vitro and in-vivo studies have demonstrated the anti-cancer activity of watercress. We anticipate that these studies will demonstrate a potentially beneficial effect of watercress on breast cancer control pathways and determine which effects are relevant to the concentrations achieved following dietary intake.

Demonstrating that watercress possesses at least some of the beneficial activities associated with proven preventative/therapeutic agents for breast cancer (such as tamoxifen, herceptin), and that these effects are achievable through dietary intake, would provide a very strong and distinctive message about the potential health benefits of watercress.”

The project, which is funded by The Watercress Alliance producer group (comprising Vitacress Salads, Alresford Salads and The Watercress Company) follows research carried out by the University of Ulster, Coleraine, and published in February 2007 which found that watercress increased the ability of cells to resist DNA damage caused by free radicals and that a daily diet of watercress significantly reduced levels of DNA damage found in blood cells. DNA damage is considered to be an important trigger in the early stages of cancer.