Phytochemical Betanin Gobbles Up Breast Cancer Cells in Vitro

By Kyle J. Norton


Breast cancer is a chronic and medical condition characterized by cell growth irregularly in the breast tissues due to DNA alternation.

Most cases of breast cancer begin in the cell on the surface of the inner lining of the breast tissues before penetrating into the deeper layers.

According to the statistics, in the US the lifetime of breast cancer in women is 1/8. In other words, if you are women, your risk of breast cancer development during your lifetime is 12.5%.

According to the prediction using the historical data, in 2019, approximately 268,600 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 62,930 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer.

The exact causes of breast cancer are not identified. However, according to the epidemiological studies, certain conditions may increase the risk of the disease such as being overweight, diet, inactivity, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and exposure to xenoestrogen.

Some researchers suggested that the discovery of oral contraceptive pill over the past few decades may correlate to the rise if breast cancer.

In other words, if you currently use an oral contraceptive, you are at a higher risk of the disease onset.

Dr. Kathleen E. Malone in the examined the breast cancer risk in women who use oral contraceptives wrote, "Breast cancer incidence in Western countries is relatively high and apparently is increasing. That breast cancer appears to be influenced by other hormonally mediated factors leads to the hypothesis that the high rate of exposure to oral contraceptives among American women may also be associated with this increase".

And, "an increasing number of studies have appeared that suggest an elevated risk in relation to some aspects of oral contractive use".

Betanin is Phytochemicals in the class of red and yellow indole-derived pigments of Betacyanins, belonging to the group of Betalains, found abundantly in beets, chard, etc.


With an aim to find a potential ingredient in plant phytochemicals for the treatment of breast cancer without inducing adverse effect compared to those of conventional medicine, researchers examined the extracts containing betanin and its stereoisomer isobetanin, which belongs to the betalain group of highly bioavailable antioxidants.

The study involved the analysis of the cytotoxicity of applying betanin-enriched extract then characterized on cancer and normal cells.

Betanin/isobetanin concentrate significantly decreased cancer cell proliferation and viability of MCF-7-treated cells, by inducing the production of proteins associated with proapoptosis and gene associated with tumor suppression. 

Observation of the increased alternation of the mitochondrial membrane potential suggested that the extracts cause cancer cell death by both intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways.

The death of MCF-7-treated cells is also attributed to betanin/isobetanin induced autophagy.

Interestingly, injection of betanin-enriched extract showed no obvious effect towards normal cell lines.

Dr. Nowacki L, the lead scientist said, "the betanin/isobetanin mix as a therapeutic anticancer compound, alone or in combination with classical chemotherapeutic drugs, especially in functional p53 tumors".

In other words, betanin/isobetanin mix extracts processed anti-breast cancer cell proliferation by inducing cell death without affecting the integrity and viability of the normal breast cells.

In the analysis of the FDA approved red food color E162, used in suppressing the development of multi-organ tumors in experimental animals, researchers compared the cytotoxic effect of the red beetroot extract with an anticancer drug, doxorubicin (Adriamycin) in the estrogen receptor-positive human breast cancer cells (MCF-7).

Beetroot extract exerted a significantly lower cancer cell inhibition compared to that doxorubicin.

The findings suggested that betanin, the major betacyanin constituent, may play an important role in the cytotoxicity exhibited by the red beetroot extract, according to the study.

Taken altogether, betanin used alone or combined with other phytochemicals may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of betanin in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Betanin-Enriched Red Beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) Extract Induces Apoptosis and Autophagic Cell Death in MCF-7 Cells by Nowacki L1,2, Vigneron P2, Rotellini L2, Cazzola H1, Merlier F1, Prost E1, Ralanairina R3, Gadonna JP3, Rossi C1, Vayssade M2. (PubMed)
(2) Cytotoxic effect of the red beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) extract compared to doxorubicin (Adriamycin) in the human prostate (PC-3) and breast (MCF-7) cancercell lines by Kapadia GJ1, Azuine MA, Rao GS, Arai T, Iida A, Tokuda H. (PubMed)
(3) Oral Contraceptives and Breast Cancer: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence with an Emphasis on Younger Women by Kathleen E. Malone. (NCBI)