MedWire News: People with Barrett's oesophagus can reduce their risk of developing cancer of the foodpipe by regularly eating black raspberries, results of a US study suggest.

Barrett's oesophagus is a potentially pre-cancerous condition of the foodpipe that is usually caused by long-term gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, in which stomach acid regularly 'escapes' into the foodpipe.

Lead researcher Dr Laura Kresty, from Ohio State University in Columbus, explained that Barrett's oesophagus patients are between 30 and 40 times more likely to develop cancer of the foodpipe, called oesophageal adenocarcinoma, than other people.

She added: "In addition to gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, increasing body mass index or body fatness is strongly associated with oesophageal adenocarcinoma development; whereas, plant-based diets and particularly increased fruit consumption has been associated with decreased risk for oesophageal adenocarcinoma."

As previous animal studies have suggested that black raspberries may help prevent mouth, oesophageal and colon cancers, Dr Kresty and her team studied whether the fruit can help prevent foodpipe cancer in patients with Barrett's oesophagus.

The researchers assigned Barrett's patients to eat between 32 and 45 grams of freeze-dried black raspberries each day for 26 weeks.

At the end of the study, the team found that 58% of the patients had significant lower urine levels of a substance called 8-Isoprostane, which indicates DNA and cell damage, compared with beforehand.

Furthermore, 37% of the Barrett's oesophagus patients experienced increases in tissue levels of an enzyme called GSTpi, which helps combat cancer but is found at low levels in Barrett's oesophagus cells compared with normal cells that line the foodpipe.

The findings indicate that eating black raspberries may help reduce the risk of foodpipe cancer in Barrett's oesophagus patients, Dr Kresty concluded at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

She added: "Black raspberries have a good profile in terms of tolerability - many of the potential toxic side effects associated with a new drug are less of an issue because we are simply administering a food in a non-traditional manner.

"Patients seem amenable to such an approach, they understand it and enjoy being able take positive action for potential health gains."