Realizing the potential of blueberry as natural inhibitor of metastasis and powerful apoptosis inducer. - GreenMedInfo Summary

Blueberries belong to the genus Vaccinium of the family Ericaceae. Rapidly accumulating experimentally verified data is uncovering tremendous pharmacological properties of biologically active constituents of Blueberries against different diseases. Our rapidly evolving knowledge about multifaceted nature of cancer has opened new horizons to search for different strategies to target multiple effectors of oncogenic networks to effectively inhibit cancer onset and progression. Excitingly, Whole blueberry powder and various bioactive constituents (Pterostilbene, malvidin-3-galactoside) of Blueberries have been shown to efficiently inhibit metastasis in animal models. These results are encouraging and future studies must converge on identification of cell signaling pathways effectively modulated by Blueberries in different cancers. It seems exciting to note that researchers are focusing on metastasis inhibitory effects of Blueberry, however, to reap full benefits it is necessary to take a step back and critically re-interpret the mechanisms used by active components of Blueberry to inhibit or prevent metastasis. Overview of the existing scientific evidence revealed visible knowledge gaps and better understanding of the targets of Blueberry will be helpful in efficient and meaningful translation of laboratory findings to clinically effective therapeutics.