Found this news from Science Daily on the effects of cruciferous veggies on p53 gene interesting

california_artist

Most UPSC has the mutant p53 gene. If you have your path report it might say something like stained positive for p53. Which means it stained positively for the mutant version.
This is encouraging news on possibilities to turn it back to basically "normal status". The p53 gene is the one that looks around cells to see if there is a problem and tells defaulty cells to kill themselves. When it doesn't work, cells divide indefinitely.

There is contact information if you want any other clarifications. In the meantime. I'm going to have some more broccoli.

For some of you that have been on this board for awhile, you might remember when I had suggested envisioning seeing ourselves turning a light type switch to turn our p53 cells back to the normal mode. Those were the good old days.

Naturally Occurring Compounds Selectively Deplete Mutant P53 In Tumor Cells
Science Daily (Apr. 20, 2009) — Researchers at Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center have demonstrated that naturally-occurring compounds can selectively deplete mutant p53 and restore "wild type" function to p53 in a variety of tumor cells.

Mutations in the p53 tumor suppressor gene – which is involved in apoptosis and DNA repair – occur in about half of all human tumors. p53 often acts as a checkpoint preventing abnormal cells from continuing to grow and divide. However mutations in p53 gene are one way that pre-cancerous cells overcome normal cellular controls and replicate without restraint.
This study demonstrates for the first time that phenethyl isothiocyante (PEITC), a naturally-occurring compound, can selectively deplete mutant p53. The authors also made an intriguing observation that the depletion of mutant p53 in human cancer cells is accompanied by restoration of the wild type p53. PEITC is a member of the isothiocyanate family compounds found in cruciferous vegetables, such as watercress, broccoli and cabbage. PEITC has been shown to have cancer preventive activity.
The researchers found that PEITC not only decreases the level of mutated p53 protein in tumor cells, but also restores the "wild type" or normal activity to mutated p53. The effect of this is that tumor cell lines with mutant p53 became more sensitive to PEITC-induced cytotoxicity than tumor cells with wild type p53, suggesting that the normal p53 checkpoint control pathways have been restored in the mutant p53-expressing tumor cells. This novel finding suggests that the PEITC and other compounds in the isothiocyante family could play important role in both cancer prevention and treatment of human cancers with mutant p53.

Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Georgetown University Medical Center, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090420151225.htm

Hope things are going well for everyone,

Claudia

I have a keen interest in epigentics and receive any news from Science Daily on the subject, that's where I got this. It's easy to sign up for emails and epigentics offer a huge promise in future cancer treatment possibilities.

Rewriter

Thank you, Claudia, for this very helpful information
When I was diagnosed, the doctors had some question about whether or not I actually HAD UPSC and used P53 staining to confirm the diagnosis. I didn't even know what the P53 gene WAS until you provided all sorts of easy-to-understand information on how its mutation plays such a huge role in the development of UPSC. Thank you for that.

Also, thank you for the information about cruciferous vegetables. Here's a good list of such vegetables, as well as other information about cancer-fighting foods. I'm not crazy about broccoli, but I LOVE kale (which I eat raw with a dressing of lemon juice, olive oil, and mustard), red cabbage (add to salads or steam and eat with a bit of olive oil, raisins, and anti-inflammatory seeds or nuts), and Brussels sprouts (steamed and dressed with a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar).

http://www.aicr.org/foods-that-fight-cancer/broccoli-cruciferous.html?gclid=CNm99cLSza0CFcZM4AodMC1UiQ

RoseyR

Yes, even genes subject to environmental influences ...


So even Georgetown is belatedly on the right track. P53 is one of THE major genes that modulates our response to invasive cancer cells and mutations in that gene can cause it to become ineffectual. So contrary to the belief that our genes are "set in stone," solely contingent on inheritance, a lot of the best research right now is showing how subject they are to the influence of diet and environment.

Dr. Keith Block, prestigious in cancer treatment and research, cites the power of apinigen (abundant in celery, parsley, and artichoke) to repair the P53 gene; curcumin, green tea, astragalus and resveratrol are cited by Balch as potent modulators of the P53 gene, so vital in "turning on" an immune attack against cancerous cells.

Also cited is a form of selenium called "selenomethine"--which one study recently touted as an enhancer of taxol/carboplatin's effectiveness in treating ovarian cancer.

Thanks, Claudia.

Rosey