LE Magazine February 2003
Chlorophyllin and Cancer Prevention
Preventing cancer is a lot easier than trying to stop it once it occurs. Research shows that there are several different ways of preventing the disease, which occurs in stages that take years to unfold.
The first stage involves damage to DNA. Cancer cells are essentially the body's own cells. However, they contain a corrupted version of normal DNA. DNA damage is caused by a loss of methylation patterns, and from attacks on the structure itself. Corrupted DNA gets replicated over and over as new cells are made. That's why it is critically important to prevent the damage from occurring in the first place.
The human body is constantly bombarded with damaging free radicals, not only from the environment, but from the body itself. The immune system, for example, creates free radicals to help kill pathogens. Mechanisms have evolved to counteract the damage and protect DNA. Antioxidants are the main defense. They're found both in food, and the body makes its own.
Because they protect DNA, antioxidants are an important defense against cancer. They block free radicals that can damage DNA. The degree to which they are able to neutralize free radicals can be detected in a laboratory, and many compounds have been tested for their ability to stop various types of free radicals. However, not all antioxidants are good at stopping all types of free radicals.
An anti-cancer supplement with power
Chlorophyllin, it turns out, is very good at blocking two types of free radicals that occur in food: heterocyclic amines and aflatoxin. Aflatoxin is a toxin from a fungus that grows on grains such as corn and rice. It is highly carcinogenic, and causes liver cancer. It cannot be seen on food, but if present, can harm a person without them knowing it.
Heterocyclic amines are chemicals created when food is cooked, particularly at high temperature. According to the Cooked Food Mutagen Reference List and a report in Food Chemistry and Toxicology, food exposes the human body to as many carcinogens as cigarette smoke. Grilled meat, fried potatoes, broiled fish-these foods contain heterocyclic amines. Ironcially, when the body metabolizes these by-products in an attempt to get rid of them, it converts them into carcinogens.
One way heterocyclic amines and aflatoxin cause cancer is by generating DNA-damaging free radicals. Vitamin C is an antioxidant most people are familiar with. And while it's very good for many things, vitamin C doesn't have what it takes to stop this kind of damage. Chlorophyllin and I3C (a phytochemical from cruciferous vegetables) have been proven the most powerful against aflatoxin and heterocyclic amines. It appears that they work in different ways, and may also work in a complimentary way. They are very powerful-more powerful, even, than the body's own antioxidant, glutathione.Chlorophyllin also goes after free radicals generated by other things such as x-rays and sunlight. It reduced a type of DNA damage from x-rays 90% in one study. This is remarkable protection.
Chemotherapeutic drugs are another source of free radicals. Free radicals from chemotherapy damage healthy tissue; sometimes a chemo drug cannot be used because of this side effect. In a study on cyclophosphamide, chlorophyllin significantly reduced bone marrow damage without interfering with the drug's anticancer effect.
Neutralizes carcinogens
It's one thing to know chlorophyllin has anti-cancer effects at the molecular level; it's another to know that these effects will translate into something visible. Will an "excess of chlorophyllin in the diet" prevent cancer, as researchers at the New York Medical College predict it will?
Liver cancer
The highest rate of aflatoxin-induced liver cancer in the world occurs in the Qidong province in China. If chlorophyllin's benefits are going to show up, they'll show up here. Researchers from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health are in the process of doing a study to see if chlorphyllin supplements will make a difference. So far they have determined that if chlorophyllin is taken three times a day with meals, it reduces aflatoxin carcinogens in the body by 55%.
They estimate that this simple, cost-effective approach will delay the development of liver cancer in Qidong province by 20 years. That's 20 years on top of the approximate 20 years it takes for the cancer to develop in the first place. (This "pushing back" of cancer's appearance for two decades could save the U.S. millions of lives, and billions of dollars in healthcare costs.)
The Johns Hopkins study relates to aflatoxin, but chlorophyllin prevents liver cancer caused by other things as well. It has been proven in rodents that chlorophyllin also prevents liver cancer caused by a nitrosamine found in beer and hard liquor. Nitrosamines are extremely potent carcinogens that also turn up in "lunch meat," hotdogs and the like.
Other cancers
Chlorophyllin has been tested in human breast cancer cells. Researchers at the University of Kentucky tested eight cancer-preventive agents, including chlorophyllin, against chemically-induced DNA adducts. Chlorophyllin was one of the top three DNA defenders, inhibiting adducts by greater than 65%. Genistein and ellagic acid came in second at greater than 45% inhibition.
The effective dose of chlorophyllin needed to protect DNA is low, making it the most potent DNA protection available in such a small package. According to the studies done so far, a person should take 2 to 4 mg per kilogram of body weight. (Note: a kilogram is 2.2 pounds).
References
Ardelt B, et al. 2001. Chlorophyllin protects cells from the cytostatic and cytotoxic effects of quinacrine mustard but not of nitrogen mustard. Int J Oncol 18:849-53.
Boloor KK, et al. 2000. Chlorophyllin as a protector of mitochondrial membranes against gamma-radiation and photosensitization. Toxicology 155:63-71.
Cho YS, et al. 1996. Chemopreventive effect of chlorophyllin on mutagenicity and cytotoxicity of 6-sulfooxymethylbenzo[a]pyrene. Cancer Lett 107:223-8.
Dashwood RH. 1999. Early detection and prevention of colorectal cancer. Oncol Rep 6:277-81.
Dashwood R, et al. 1996. Study of the forces of stabilizing complexes between chlorophylls and heterocyclic amine mutagens. Environ Mol Mutagen 27:211-18.
Egner PA, et al. 2001. Chlorophyllin intervention reduces aflatoxin-DNA adducts in individuals at high risk for liver cancer. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98:14601-6.
Guo D, et al. 1995. Protection by chlorophyllin and indole-3-carbinol against 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylmidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP)-induced DNA adducts and colonic aberrant crypts in the F344 rat. Carcinogenesis 16:2931-7.
Kumar SS, et al. 1999. Inhibition of radiation-induced DNA damage in plasmid pBR322 by chlorophyllin and possible mechanism(s) of action. Mutat Res 425:71-9.
Kumar SS, et al. 2001. Scavenging of reactive oxygen species by chloropyllin: an ESR study. Free Rad Res 35:563-74.
Smith WA, et al. 2001. Effect of chemopreventive agents on DNA adduction induced by the potent mammary carcinogen dibenzo[a,l]opyrene in the human breast cells MCF-7. Mutat Res 480:97-108.
Te C, et al. 1997. In vivo effects of chlorophyllin on the antitumour agent cyclophosphamide. Int J Cancer 70:84-9.
