Could Red Wine Both Cause and Prevent Cancer?

Red wine contains alcohol and resveratrol, or in other words, both cancer-causing and cancer-preventing properties, according to a new study.

Previous research has linked resveratrol, a compound found in grape skin and red wine, to several health benefits—including a lowered risk for Alzheimer’s disease and reduced acne severity.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RELATED CONTENT
Could Resveratrol Help Slow The Progression of Alzheimer's Disease?
Could Grapes Help Fight Acne?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Other studies have shown that alcohol, especially when in the partially metabolized state of acetyl aldehyde, damages DNA and increases the risk of head and neck cancers.

However, red wine drinkers have been shown to have the lowest incidence of cancer when compared to other sources of alcohol. Researchers hypothesized that the resveratrol found within red wine was the reason for this difference.

“Alcohol bombards your genes. Your body has ways to repair this damage, but with enough alcohol eventually some damage isn’t fixed. That’s why excessive alcohol use is a factor in head and neck cancer,” explained Robert Sclafani, PhD, of the University of Colorado Cancer Center.

“Now, resveratrol takes out the cells with the most damage—the cells that have the highest probability of being able to cause cancer. Alcohol damages cells and resveratrol kills damaged cells,” researchers noted.

While resveratrol can lower the risk of cancer development, it is not a magic bullet that eliminates cancer entirely. Additional research is needed to further examine the potential of resveratrol as a cancer-preventing and cancer-treating agent.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Shrotriya S, Agarwal R, Sclafani RA. A perspective on chemoprevention by resveratrol in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2014;815:333-348.