The role of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) in colon cancer.

Colon cancer is one of the major causes of cancer-related death in the Western world. Although cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents are available to treat the disease, these agents become ineffective as the disease advances to an invasive state. An alternative but viable approach to reduce the incidence of this deadly disease is then, to increase the dietary intake of relatively non-toxic fruits and vegetables. An example of a fruit with antioxidant, antidiabetic and anti-atherosclerotic properties is pomegranate. Pomegranate produces anticancer effects in experimental models of lung, prostate and skin cancer. More recently, pomegranate has been found to be anti-carcinogenic in the colon. This communication discusses pomegranate's effect in colon cancer.