MedWire News: Resveratrol, a nutrient found in red wine, blocks cellular changes that can lead to breast cancer, scientists report.

Laboratory experiments by the US researchers indicate that the amount of resveratrol in a glass of red wine has cancer-preventive effects.

"This was dramatic because it was able to be done with fairly low concentrations of resveratrol," said lead author Eleanor Rogan, from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

It has previously been shown that too much alcohol can raise the risk of breast cancer. But resveratrol, which occurs naturally in red grapes and nuts, can also be bought as a supplement.

Previous reports have revealed other health benefits of resveratrol, including the prevention of heart disease.

Some types of breast cancer are driven by high levels of the hormone oestrogen, which reacts with DNA to form a complex.

In the current trial, Rogan and co-workers investigated whether resveratrol affects how cells respond to oestrogen.

They found that 10 µmol resveratrol suppressed the formation of DNA-oestrogen complexes. A glass of wine contains between 9 and 28 µmol resveratrol.

Resveratrol also suppressed cell transformation - the structural changes associated with cancer development.

"Resveratrol has the ability to prevent the first step that occurs when oestrogen starts the process that leads to cancer by blocking the formation of the oestrogen-DNA adducts," said Rogan.

"We believe that this could stop the whole progression that leads to breast cancer down the road."

Experiments are now needed to confirm the findings in humans, she concluded.