'DIMming' cancer growth -- STAT: Diindolylmethane suppresses ovarian cancer
Thursday, January 26, 2012 - 04:30
in Health & Medicine
Ovarian cancer is a major cause of death worldwide. Approximately 25,000 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year and 15,000 women will die from it in the United States alone. The novel anti-cancer drug diindolylmethane (DIM) has been shown in laboratory to inhibit the growth of ovarian cancer cells. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine has looked in detail at the action of DIM and showed that it works by blocking the activation and production of the transcription factor STAT3. DIM also enhances the anti-cancer effect of the platinum-based chemotherapy drug cisplatin.