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Compounds derived from red wine, spicy peppers and tree bark hold potential for treating ovarian cancer
December 11, 2013
In a series of recent papers,
Dr. Benjamin Tsang
and his colleagues have revealed how several natural compounds may be able to make ovarian cancer cells more sensitive to chemotherapy. The five-year survival rate for ovarian cancer is just 20% and resistance to chemotherapy is thought to play major role. The natural compounds are piceatannol (derived from grapes and red wine; see
JBC
), hirsutenone (derived from Marchurian alder bark; see
JBC
) and piperlongumine (derived from spicy peppers; see
PLOS ONE
). The papers show that each of these compounds make the chemotherapy drug cisplatin more effective against ovarian cancer in cell culture, and for piceatannol, in mouse models as well. Dr. Tsang and his colleagues also show how these compounds alter molecular pathways involved in programmed cell death.
Funders:
Canadian Institutes of Health Research; National Research Foundation of Korea
About the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) is the research arm of The Ottawa Hospital and is an affiliated institute of the University of Ottawa, closely associated with the university’s Faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences. OHRI includes more than 1,700 scientists, clinical investigators, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and staff conducting research to improve the understanding, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human disease. www.ohri.ca
Media contact
Jennifer Ganton
Director, Communications and Public Relations
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
613-798-5555 x 73325
613-614-5253 (cell)
jganton@ohri.ca