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ESPRESS-LOW

Coffee slows and even stops growth of prostate cancer, experts discover

Your morning espresso may have more to it than simply waking you up

Chemicals found in espresso may halt cancer cells

COFFEE contains compounds which could slow or stop potentially deadly prostate cancer growth scientists claim.

Experts in Japan have found that chemicals found in coffee beans have halted tumour growth in mice cells.

 Chemicals found in espresso may halt cancer cells
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Chemicals found in espresso may halt cancer cellsCredit: Getty - Contributor

The two compounds, kahweol acetate and cafestol are commonly found in espresso rather than filter coffee.

They’ve been found to stop growth in cells that are often resistant to anti-cancer drugs.
Although more research needs to be done on a human cells, experts believe this could be a promising breakthrough for battling the disease.

The team of academics originally looked at six compounds and tested them are human prostate cancer cells in a dish and then on 16 mice.

Dr Hiroaki Iwamoto of Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, Lead author of the study said: “We found that kahweol acetate and cafestol inhibited the growth of the cancer cells in mice."

He went on to say that the combination of both chemicals led to a significantly slower tumour growth than in untreated mice.

“After 11 days, the untreated tumours had grown by around three and a half times the original volume (342 per cent), whereas the tumours in the mice treated with both compounds had grown by around just over one and a half (167 per cent) times the original size.”

But the researchers stressed that more work needs to be done and that blokes shouldn't start guzzling their way in coffee.

Symptoms of prostate cancer

In most cases, prostate cancer doesn't have any symptoms until the growth is big enough to put pressure on the urethra - that tube you pee through.

Symptoms include:

  • Needing to urinate more often, especially at night
  • Needing to rush to the toilet
  • Difficulty in starting to pee
  • Weak flow
  • Straining and taking a long time while peeing
  • Feeling that your bladder hasn't emptied fully

Professor Atsushi Mizokami, also from Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, added: “These are promising findings, but they should not make people change their coffee consumption.

“Coffee can have both positive and negative effects so we need to find out more about the mechanisms behind these findings before we can think about clinical applications.

“However, if we can confirm these results, we may have candidates to treat drug-resistant prostate cancer.”


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