Cancer Decisions - Free Newsletter

RADIATION AND BREAST CANCER

Readers of this newsletter may recall that I have previously discussed research showing that radiation treatment given to women as a follow-up to breast cancer surgery, particularly with older delivery methods, can damage the heart and can increase the risk of subsequent cardiovascular disease.

To read my previous newsletters on this topic, please click or go to:

http://www.cancerdecisions.com/041507.html

http://www.cancerdecisions.com/042207.html

It is widely assumed that modern radiation delivery procedures have largely eliminated the danger of incidental damage to the heart. The www.breastcancer.org, Web site, for example, issues this soothing reassurance:

"Radiation therapy techniques have changed dramatically....New technology allows doctors to use the lowest dose of radiation possible. They can also more precisely target the radiation to the breast and away from the heart - so the heart receives a minimal amount or none at all."

But a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology has renewed concerns about the risks of radiation-associated heart damage in women currently given adjuvant radiation following surgery for early breast cancer.

In this study, researchers found that the risk of cardiac abnormalities, and in particular damage to the left anterior ascending coronary artery, was significantly raised among women who had received left sided breast irradiation for stage I and II breast cancer.

These and other important studies are discussed in depth in Radiation and the Treatment of Breast Cancer - a full-length exploration of the risks and benefits of radiation treatment for breast cancer. Women facing decisions about radiation as part of their treatment for breast cancer will find this an invaluable guide. You can purchase a copy of this useful analysis by clicking here or going to:

https://webssl.cancerdecisions.com/list/optin.php?form_id=28

CONSTANTLY MONITORING NEW RESEARCH

During my long career in the field of cancer I have witnessed many instances of new research forcing a re-examination of the seemingly unshakable therapeutic assumptions of the past. By constantly monitoring the scientific literature I aim to provide my readers with the best possible synopsis of the current state of knowledge in the world of cancer treatment and prevention. My goal, and that of my organization, Cancer Communications, Inc., is to maintain the sort of consistent, reliably objective analytical standard that will allow my readers to make truly informed decisions.

In the past 30 years I have written and published extensively on the subject of cancer and its treatment, and have compiled a comprehensive series of more than 200 individual reports on different cancer diagnoses - The Moss Reports - each one of which examines both the standard treatment options that are likely to be offered for a particular cancer diagnosis, and the possible alternative and complementary approaches that may prove most useful.

If you would like to order a Moss Report for yourself or someone you love, you can do so securely and easily from our Web site, www.cancerdecisions.com, or by calling 1-800-980-1234 (814-238-3367 from outside the US).

PHONE CONSULTATIONS

I also offer phone consultations to clients who have purchased a Moss Report. A phone consultation can be enormously helpful in drawing up an effective treatment strategy and getting one's options clearly prioritized.

A recent phone consultation client wrote:

"I've used the Moss Report to direct my successful ten-year battle with breast cancer, and with the disease, and I've appreciated the thorough research and unbiased opinions that Dr. Moss provides. Since I am once again in a position that I must seek further treatment, I chose to have a phone consultation with Dr. Moss. I had been considering a treatment option that Dr. Moss felt very strongly would not be of benefit to me. Through our conversation I not only gained information that will keep me from wasting $20,000 on a treatment with no merit, but Dr. Moss also gave me some ideas that cause me to remain very hopeful." - J.M.

To schedule a phone consultation, please call 1-800-980-1234 (814-238-3367 from outside the US) or send an email to Jacquie@cancerdecisions.com.

We look forward to helping you.

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READ IT AND WEEP

Onions (Allium cepa L.) are a healthful food. Epidemiological (i.e., population-based) studies have repeatedly shown that people who eat diets rich in fruits and vegetables, and particularly in garlic and onions, have lower rates of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. I try to incorporate garlic and onion, as well as their elegant cousin, the shallot (Allium ascalonicum), a small but subtly flavored relative of the onion, into my diet whenever possible. For instance, I make a mean omelet using an entire onion, lightly sautéed, with some garlic cloves thrown in for good measure.

But, as you may have noticed, there have been changes in the onion business that bear watching. First of all, the price of onions has risen in recent years. It is not uncommon these days to pay $1.50 per pound for what not long ago cost 39¢. And increasingly in American supermarkets, the familiar yellow, white and red onions are being crowded out by various "sweet" varieties. These sweet varieties used to be sold at a premium but are now actually somewhat less expensive. (On a recent shopping expedition I noticed that they were the only bulk onions priced under $1.00 per pound).

Originally, the only variety of sweet onion available in most markets was a form of yellow granex known by the name Vidalia. Traditionally, these were harvested in southeast Georgia from late April till mid-June and were available only during the summer months. Now the Vidalia season has been extended for several months by use of controlled atmosphere (CA) storage. The principal characteristic of CA storage is a modification of the atmosphere in the storage facility. This involves decreasing the oxygen content of the air to 3 percent and maintaining the onions at a temperature of 34 degrees Fahrenheit. So there are now Vidalia and other sweet onions available in many markets year-round.

The Vidalia sweet onion was discovered by a farmer named Mose Coleman in Toombs County, Georgia, in the spring of 1931. During the depths of the Great Depression, Mose was able to get a whopping 7¢ per pound for his novel onions, and word of this quickly spread. The state of Georgia subsidized a farm stand in the Toombs County town of Vidalia, and tourists who bought Mose's delicious onions as a novelty spread word of them far and wide.

Figure 1: Mose Coleman, discoverer of the Vidalia onion

If you cannot view the photo above,please click or go to:
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Soon these so-called "Vidalia onions" began appearing on the shelves of the local Piggly Wiggly - and the Vidalia became synonymous with a fine eating onion that wouldn't cause tears when you cut it up. Down along the banks of the Ogeechee River, folks are understandably proud of their unusual onion. In 1990, the Vidalia onion was named Georgia's official state vegetable. Like French wines, "Vidalia" is now a controlled appellation that can only come from a production area defined by law in Georgia and by the United States Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). According to the Vidalia Onion Act of 1986 true Vidalia onions can only come from certain well-defined counties.

Vidalia onions have a very mild taste and do not make your eyes water when you cut them up. In time Vidalia was joined on the shelves by other varieties of sweet onions - Maui, Walla Walla, and Maya. These are all delicious. Some are available all year long and at 50 percent lower cost than standard yellow or red onions.

Chemical analysis has shown that the reason that these onions are so sweet is because of a lack of sulfur in the soil in the particular counties in which they are grown. Sulfur is necessary to produce the characteristically sharp taste and odor of typical onions. But therein lies the problem. Do these sulfur-lacking sweet onions convey the same health benefit as typical sharp onions? After all, we also know that sulfur is involved in the production of some of the very phenolic and flavonoid compounds that give the onion family its health benefit. (I am thinking in particular of organic allyl sulfur, the most desirable compound in onions and garlic.)

This question has been answered by food chemists at Cornell University and the results will not come as welcome news down in Jeff Davis County.

Figure 2: Dr. Liu and his test onions

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These Cornell scientists, led by Dr. R.H. Liu, compared the phenolic and flavonoid content of 10 varieties of onion that are commonly available in the United States, as well as shallots. The ten varieties were as follows:

1. Empire Sweet
2. Imperial Valley Sweet; and
3. Mexico
4. New York Bold
5. Northern Red
6. Peruvian Sweet
7. Texas 1015
8. Vidalia
9. Western White
10. Western Yellow

These were evaluated for their total phenolic and flavonoid content as well as their antioxidant and antiproliferative (i.e., anticancer) activity. Shallots had the highest total phenolic content among all the varieties tested, with a 6-fold difference observed when compared to Vidalia onions. Western Yellows exhibited the highest total flavonoid content of all the onion varieties tested, with an 11-fold difference when compared to the phenol-poor Western Whites. Shallots exhibited the highest total antioxidant activity.

Leaving aside the antioxidant-rich shallots, the onions were ranked as follows for antioxidant activity:

1. Western Yellow
2. New York Bold
3. Northern Red
4. Mexico
5. Empire Sweet
6. Western White
7. Peruvian Sweet
8. Texas 1015
9. Imperial Valley Sweet
10. Vidalia

The Cornell scientists also exposed various cancer cell lines to these onion varieties to see what effect the onions had on cell proliferation. The most effective of all in inhibiting cancer cells were - again - shallots, followed by New York Bold, Western Yellow and Northern Reds. The rest of the varieties all demonstrated weak anti-proliferative activity against these cancer cell lines. "These results may influence consumers toward purchasing onion varieties exhibiting greater potential health benefits," the authors wrote.

I know these results will influence my own shopping habits. The next time I purchase onions I will be looking for Western Yellow, New York Bold and/or Northern Red (a particularly good variety for salads). I will also get some shallots when my budget can afford them and they look nice and plump. Sweet onions, such as Vidalias or Maya, are indeed delicious and relatively inexpensive. But they simply do not convey a fraction of the health benefits of yellow or red onions, or of shallots.

--Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.

References:

Boyer J, Brown D, Liu RH. In vitro digestion and lactase treatment influence uptake of quercetin and quercetin glucoside by the Caco-2 cell monolayer. Nutr J. 2005 Jan 11;4:1.

Boyer J, Brown D, Liu RH. Uptake of quercetin and quercetin 3-glucoside from whole onion and apple peel extracts by Caco-2 cell monolayers. J Agric Food Chem. 2004 Nov 17;52(23):7172-9.

Lang, Susan S. Onion a day keeps doctor away? Cornell researchers find some onions do indeed have excellent anti-cancer benefits, Cornell news release. Oct. 7, 2004.

Yang J, Meyers KJ, van der Heide J, Liu RH. Varietal differences in phenolic content and antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of onions. J Agric Food Chem. 2004 Nov 3;52(22):6787-93.

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IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER

The news and other items in this newsletter are intended for informational purposes only. Nothing in this newsletter is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice.