Previous studies in our laboratory demonstrated that blueberry (BB) extract exhibited antitumor activity againstMDA-MB-231 triple negative breast... » More

Previous studies in our laboratory demonstrated that blueberry (BB) extract exhibited antitumor activity againstMDA-MB-231

triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells and decreased metastatic potential in vitro. The current study tested 2 doses of

whole BB powder, 5 and 10% (wt:wt) in the diet, against MDA-MB-231 tumor growth in female nude mice. In this study,

tumor volume was 75%lower in mice fed the 5%BB diet and 60% lower in mice fed the 10%BB diet than in control mice

(P # 0.05). Tumor cell proliferation (Ki-67) was lower in the 5 and 10% BB-fed mice and cell death (Caspase 3) was greater in

the 10% BB-fed mice compared to control mice (P # 0.05). Gene analysis of tumor tissues from the 5% BB-fed mice

revealed significantly altered expression of genes important to inflammation, cancer, and metastasis, specifically, Wnt

signaling, thrombospondin-2, IL-13, and IFNg. To confirm effects on Wnt signaling, analysis of tumor tissues from 5%BB-fed

mice revealed lower b-catenin expression and glycogen synthase kinase-3b phosphorylation with greater expression of the

b-catenin inhibitory protein adenomatous polyposis coli compared to controls. A second study tested the ability of the 5%BB

diet to inhibit MDA-MB-231-luc-D3H2LN metastasis in vivo. In this study, 5% BB-fed mice developed 70% fewer liver

metastases (P = 0.04) and 25%fewer lymph node metastases (P = 0.09) compared to control mice. This study demonstrates

the oral antitumor and metastasis activity of whole BB powder against TNBC in mice.

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