PREVIOUS research has identified spinach as hav-ing anti-colon cancer properties.
A study from Texas A&M University (TAMU) in College Station finds that the vegetable can inhibit polyp growth in people with either nongenetic or genetic colon cancer.
They discovered that the anti-polyp effect of spin-ach stems from some surprising metabolic interac-tions.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), colorectal cancer is the third-Trusted Source leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.
Some skin cancers aside, it is also the third most common cancer in both men and women. Colorectal cancer encompasses colon cancer and rectal cancer.
The colon and rectum are both parts of the large intestine. Previous researchTrusted Source has established that eating spinach can reduce the risk of colon can-cer by as much as half.
A new study from the TAMU Health Science Cen-ter reaffirms the anticancer properties of spinach and investigates how the vegetable interacts with gut bacteria and genetics to achieve its beneficial effects.
Spinach inhibits the growth of colon polyps. Of all colorectal cancer cases, the hereditary familial type accounts for only 10–15%. Furthermore, only 5–10% of polyps develop into colorectal cancer.
The TAMU researchers had previously confirmed the ability of spinach to repress the development of polyps in rats that had an induced form of cancer similar to humans’ nongenetic, or “sporadic,” colo-rectal cancer. About 85–90% of colorectal cancer cases are sporadic.
The new study looks at the value of spinach for people with a hereditary form of colorectal cancer called familial adenomatous polyposis.
Familial adenomatous polyposis leads to the growth of multiple, sometimes hundreds, of noncancerous colon polyps.
Most people with the condition even-tually require surgery to remove the colon, after which they will use potentially toxicTrusted Source nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to keep polyps from growing in the duodenum.
For their study, the researchers fed freeze-dried spinach to rats with familial adenomatous polyposis for 26 weeks.
The study suggests that spinach con-sumption could delay polyp growth, holding off the need for intensive treatment.
