A NATURAL compound that is found in everyday foods such as beans, nuts and cereals has been identified by scientists as a potent agent for fighting cancer.

Research suggests that diets high in substances containing the compound, which has been shown to inhibit the growth of tumours, could help to prevent cancer, while the chemical offers a new weapon for treating the disease.

Foods particularly rich in the compound, inositol pentakisphosphate, known as InsP5, include cashews and peanuts and beans such as kidney, pinto and navy beans, the pulse commonly used in baked beans. Beans and nuts that have been cooked are a better source because the heating process generates more InsP5 as it breaks down other compounds.

Scientists from University College London who have carried out tests on InsP5 say that it inhibits a key enzyme called phosphoinositide 3kinase, which is involved in the growth of tumours in human beings.

Marco Falasca, of the UCL Sackler Institute, said that the discovery was particularly exciting because InsP5 was a natural compound which, unlike most anti-cancer agents, was not toxic even if used in large quantities. “This compound is potentially very interesting as a prevention against cancer,” Dr Falasco said. “Our study suggests the importance of a diet enriched in food such as beans, nuts and cereals which could help prevent cancer.”

In the study, published in the latest issue of Cancer Research, the compound was tested in mouse models and on cancer cells.

Not only was it found to inhibit the growth of tumours in mice, but the phosphate also enhanced the effect of cytotoxic (anti-cancer) drugs in ovarian and lung cancer cells. The findings suggest that InsP5 could be used to sensitise cancer cells to the action of commonly used cancer drugs.

The enzyme phosphoinositide 3-kinase plays a key role in the development and progression of human tumours. Scientists have been exploring the possibility of using it as a target for cancer treatment, but until now inhibitory agents have been difficult to develop because of problems with the chemical stability and toxicity of the substances they contain.

InsP5 is a non-toxic, watersoluble compound found in most legumes — such as lentils, peas and beans — and in wheat bran and nuts. These properties make the compound a promising therapeutic agent since conventional chemotherapy agents can be toxic to different degrees, whereas in the study, the inositol phosphate agent was found to be non-toxic even when used at higher concentrations.

“Our work will now focus on establishing whether the phosphate inhibitor can be developed into an anti-cancer agent for human therapy,” Dr Falasca said. “We believe that inositol pentakisphosphate is a promising anti-cancer tool and we hope to bring it to clinical testing soon.”

Nutritionists and scientists have long hailed the healthgiving qualities of beans as a high-fibre foodstuff thought to offer protection against the damage caused to cells by free radicals, which can lead to cancer.

In its dietary guidelines for 2005, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends that people eat the equivalent of three cups of beans a week. Four types of bean — small red, red kidney, pinto and black beans — are among the 20 most anti-oxidant rich foods, according to research by USDA scientists.

In a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looking at the risk of colon cancer, scientists concluded that people who ate legumes more than twice a week were less likely to develop the disease than those who included them in their diet less than once a week.

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