On a perfect summer day, I drove north from Ithaca to the wine growing region of New York's Finger Lakes. It had been many years since my last visit and I was amazed at how prosperous this region had grown, and how varied and interesting its wine industry had become. Thirty or so years ago, New York wines were the laughing stock of the industry. One thought of sweetened kosher Concord Grape wine - more like grape juice than wine - and the cheapest kinds of "champagne."

How things have changed! Today, the vineyards of Cayuga, Seneca, Keuka, and the other lakes, are thriving. Utilizing both European and American varieties, they create some of the most interesting wines around. My wife and I sampled the wines at a number of vineyards. We also stopped for some amazing tastings of hard ciders at the Bellwether Cidery on Cayuga Lake (http://www.cidery.com/).

But by far the most interesting part of our vineyard crawl was the visit to Konstantin Frank's Vinifera Wine Cellars in Hammondsport, NY (http://www.drfrankwines.com). Dr. Frank was a legend in the New York wine industry. He came to New York from Germany in 1951, with little else but his PhD in viticulture from the Polytechnic Institute of Odessa. Initially he worked as a dishwasher at the Horn & Hardart automats in New York. He had the determination to use European style grapes - vitis vinifera - to produce world-class wines in the New York region. He saved up for a bus ticket to get to the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station. The rest, as they say, is history.

The Cancer Connection

What does this have to do with cancer? One of the wines that Dr. Frank began producing was Fleur de Pinot Noir. Some years ago, Leroy L. Creasy of Cornell University did a comparative study of various red wines and found that of all the wines tested, Frank's Pinot Noir had the highest content of resveratrol (pronounced res-VER-a-troll), a compound with some remarkable health benefits, not least its potential as an anti-cancer agent. Frank's wine was found to have a resveratrol rating of 46.1 uM. The average range for red wines was 0.1 to 12.0 uM. Thus, Frank's wine provided about four times as much of this anti-cancer compound as its next closest competitor!

Some years ago, I wrote about the health benefits of reservatrol and this brought me into contact with Dr. Frank's son, Willy. He urged me to visit him at his vineyard, but it took me two years to take him up on the offer. When I did get around to it, I learned to my dismay that he had died of a stroke in the spring of 2006 - not long after we spoke on the phone. Thus, my visit was bittersweet, since I had really looked forward to meeting this gentle and knowledgeable man. The vineyard has now been taken over by Willy's son, Fred Frank. His own 15-year-old son, Kyle Konstantin Frank, stands poised to take over the business that was founded by his illustrious great grandfather. Now there's an American success story!

Wonders of Resveratrol

Just this year, the world's second biggest pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline, paid $720 million to buy Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc., a company that is developing drugs that mimic the effects of resveratrol. What then is so special about resveratrol?

Twenty years ago, a remarkable group of naturally occurring compounds known as phytoalexins was discovered. Phytoalexins are natural antibiotics that are produced by plants that are under attack by bacteria or fungi, and are capable of killing or inactivating the invading organism with amazing efficiency. They therefore function as orchestrators of a kind of biochemical immune system within the plant kingdom: as part of the response to bacterial or fungal invasion, infected plants release hormones that can prompt as yet uninfected neighboring plants to begin producing phytoalexins of their own as a sort of proactive defense.

The ability of phytoalexins to inhibit cell division and to arrest the growth of invading organisms quickly caught the attention of cancer researchers. One phytoalexin in particular, resveratrol, has become the focus of a great deal of research attention. Resveratrol, a phytoalexin found in the skin of red grapes (that's how it finds its way into red wine), has been shown to possess marked anti-cancer activity in addition to a wide range of other beneficial physiological effects, including the capacity to lower blood sugar, and an ability to extend the lifespan of certain experimental animals.

Because of its association with red grapes and red wine, it has been suggested that resveratrol may be the "magic ingredient" responsible for the fact that people who regularly drink modest amounts of red wine tend to have a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease - the so-called "French Paradox."

Resveratrol exhibits an anti-inflammatory effect. It is a potent antioxidant, inhibiting free radical formation and preventing genetic mutations that can lead to tumor formation. Together, its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-mutagenic properties, coupled with the fact that it has a very low toxicity, make it highly promising as a potential weapon against cancer.

I am not suggesting that teetotalers take up the alcohol habit in order to avail themselves of the benefits of this compound. Alcohol has too many potential downsides, including the possibility of addiction, to recommend it. But, if you are an adult in reasonably good health and already drink wine, then may I suggest that you cultivate a taste for Pinot Noir (the wine that was celebrated in the movie, Sideways.) That way, you will not only enjoy yourself but get a more-than-usual dose of resveratrol.

(N.B. Those who prefer to get their resveratrol without the accompanying alcohol can purchase resveratrol capsules that will provide an equivalent benefit.)

To be continued next week.

--Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.

PHONE CONSULTATIONS

Recently we received the following comments from a client who had just had a phone consultation:

"The biggest issue with cancer is that presently there aren't any clear answers. The path is filled with anecdotes, protocols, trials, and alternative and complementary treatments. These can be as confusing as the elements surrounding the nature of the disease itself. One needs parameters and the wisdom of experience to sort it all out. Dr. Moss, both in his reports and telephone consultation, is a strong beacon to help guide the journey. We have used his report to establish the credibility of the questions we pose to medical doctors and we will also do so with the information received in our recent telephone consultation. We feel we now have the tools to chart our path forward and feel we have a friend and supporter in Dr. Moss." - M. H., August 18^th 2008

 

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CANCER DECISIONS© AND CURRENT TOPICS© REPORTS AND WHERE TO GO? REPORTS

Reports in our Cancer Decisions© series are designed to provide readers with the detailed information they need in order to make difficult treatment decisions. Currently available are: :

• Radiation and the Treatment of Breast Cancer
• Antioxidants and Cancer Treatment (Combination report)
• Do Antioxidants Interfere with Radiation Treatment for Cancer?
• Overcoming the Adverse Effects of Radiation Therapy
• Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer
• Radiation Therapy for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

These reports can be purchased and downloaded from our Web site, by clicking here.

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Coming shortly: Radiation Therapy for Gynecological Cancers (Ovarian, Endometrial, Vaginal and Cervical Cancer).

WHERE TO GO?

Our growing Where To Go? series continues to attract favorable reviews from readers. Already available are Where To Go? - Houston, Where To Go? -Philadelphia, and Where To Go? - Chicago. A Where To Go? - Boston report is due to be launched shortly. These are the first reports in a new series on regional availability of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). For more information, or to order, please click here.

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