The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation has recently awarded an NYU dental research team a three-year, $600,000 grant to study whether nutrients and antioxidants found in broccoli, grapes, and other naturally occurring compounds could prevent breast cancer. The study’s principal investigator, Joseph Guttenplan, a professor of basic science and craniofacial biology, is testing multiple formulations of a half-dozen nutrients and antioxidants to determine which formulations could most effectively prevent the mutations that can lead to cancer.
Guttenplan and his co-investigator, Peter Sacks, also a professor of basic science and craniofacial biology, are testing the formulations in vitro in rat mammary cells that have been exposed to carcinogens. The cells are genetically engineered to make any resulting mutations easy to detect.
“There is evidence to suggest that taking very high doses of each of these antioxidants could prevent cancer, but those doses might be toxic,” explained Guttenplan. “By combining these compounds, we hope to devise more potent formulations that could be safely ingested as dietary supplements in a natural preventive regimen.”
About New York University College of Dentistry Founded in 1865, New York University College of Dentistry (NYUCD) is the third oldest and the largest dental school in the US, educating more than 8 percent of all dentists. NYUCD has a significant global reach and provides a level of national and international diversity among its students that is unmatched by any other dental school.