Anticancer target of broccoli chemical found

An anticancer compound found in broccoli and cabbage works by lowering the activity of an enzyme associated with rapidly advancing breast cancer, according to a study which appeared this week in the on-line early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The compound, indole-3-carbinol, is already undergoing clinical trials in humans because it was found to stop the growth of breast and prostate cancer cells in mice. The new findings are the first to explain how I3C stops cell growth and provides the basis for designing improved versions of the chemical that would be more effective as a drug and could work against a broader range of tumors.