Past research has suggested that sulforaphane – a compound present in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables – can help to prevent cancer or slow its progression. A new study may have discovered how.

Share on Pinterest Researchers have discovered one way by which sulforaphane, found in broccoli, may help to prevent and treat cancer.

Researchers from Oregon State University (OSU) found that sulforaphane reduced the expression of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in prostate cancer cells, which disrupted the cells’ ability to form colonies – a hallmark of metastatic cancer.

Previously believed to be “junk DNA” with no significant function, lncRNAs have increasingly emerged as key players in the development of numerous cancers, including prostate, breast, stomach, and lung cancers.

Studies have suggested that lncRNAs can regulate gene expression – the process by which genes are switched on or off in order to do their jobs. When lncRNAs become dysregulated, it is believed that they can fuel disease development.

Not only does the new study provide further evidence of the role lncRNAs play in cancer, but it supports previous research hailing the anticancer effects of sulforaphane.

“It’s obviously of interest that this dietary compound, found at some of its highest levels in broccoli, can affect lncRNAs,” says principal study investigator Emily Ho, of the Moore Family Center for Whole Grain Foods, Nutrition and Preventive Health at OSU.

“This could open the door to a whole range of new dietary strategies, foods, or drugs that might play a role in cancer suppression or therapeutic control,” she adds.

Ho and colleagues recently reported their results in The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry.