Compound in BROCCOLI is found to Protect Against Cancer

Broccoli has long been hailed as a superfood, and it could soon protect people from cancer of the mouth, throat, neck and head, a study claims.

Scientists are developing a new treatment known as 'green chemoprevention' in which broccoli and other vegetables are used to prevent the disease.

They explained that cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and garden cress have a high concentration of sulforaphane – which is why they have a slightly bitter taste.

Broccoli could soon protect people from cancer of the mouth, throat, neck and head. Sulforaphane - the compound that gives the vegetable its bitter taste - was found to reduce the number of tumours in patients.

Now, lab tests have shown extracts made from broccoli sprout protected mice against oral cancer.

American scientists now plan to carry out clinical trials on patients at high risk of having their head and neck cancer return.

They will be given capsules containing broccoli seed powder to determine if they can be tolerated, and to test whether it has enough of an impact on their oral lining cells, where cancers form, to prevent the disease.

Associate professor Dr Julie Bauman, of the University of Pittsburgh, said: 'People who are cured of head and neck cancer are still at very high risk for a second cancer in their mouth or throat, and, unfortunately, these second cancers are commonly fatal.

Professor Daniel Johnson, of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, said: 'The clear benefit of sulforaphane in preventing oral cancer in mice raises hope that this well-tolerated compound also may act to prevent oral cancer in humans who face chronic exposure to environmental pollutants and carcinogens.'