Chocolate compound stops cancer cell cycle, study shows

The study, published in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics and funded by Mars Incorporated, explains how pentameric procyanidin (pentamer), a compound found in cocoa, deactivates a number of proteins that appear to work in concert to push a cancer cell to continually divide.

Chocolate is made from the beans of cacao trees, which, like some other plants, are rich in natural antioxidants known as flavonoids. These antioxidants may protect cells from the damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals, which are thought to contribute to both heart disease and cancer development.

The primary family of flavonoids contributing to the antioxidant benefit in chocolate is the procyanidins, and of the various types of procyanidins, pentamer seem to be strongest, according to a number of studies.

“There are all kinds of chemicals in the food we eat that potentially have effects on cancer cells, and a natural compound in chocolate may be one,” said the lead author, Dr Robert Dickson, professor of oncology at Georgetown University. “We need to slowly develop evidence about the selectivity of these compounds to cancer, learn how they work, and sort out any issues of toxicity.”

Chocolate, like many other foods, is the source of many possible anticancer compounds, but Dickson has stressed that this research, which is part of a series of studies conducted at Georgetown on the chocolate-cancer connection, does not mean that people who eat chocolate will either reduce their cancer risks or treat a current case.