Animal Study Shows Black Raspberries May Prevent Oral Cancer

The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) has introduced many new findings during its 25th annual conference this week in Maryland, such as the correlations between tomatoes and prostate cancer and high-fat diets and obesity. Now, the AICR has presented a new study that links eating black raspberries and preventing oral cancer in an animal study.

"Our study shows that feeding black raspberries to rats inhibits the development of oral cancer in an animal model," Steve Oghumu, a scientist at the Ohio State University and lead author of the study, said in a press release.

The study used rats with oral cancer for its animal model. They were separated into three dietary groups for 16 weeks: a standard diet, a diet with 5 percent freeze-dried black raspberries, and a diet with 10 percent black raspberries. There was also a control group of rats that did not have cancer.

After 16 weeks, the rats' tongues and blood were checked for markers that indicated inflammation and cell death. The groups that ate black raspberries saw the death of cancer cells and reduced inflammation compared to the group assigned to a standard diet.

Tumor size was also reduced in the rats that ate black raspberries: 39 percent for the group that ate 5 percent black raspberries, and 29 percent for the group that ate 10 percent black raspberries.

This study provides a basis for an animal model that can help to understand how black raspberries may eventually be used to prevent or treat oral cancer cells in humans; however, there is still little understanding on the molecular level of the role of black raspberries in cancer prevention.