Indole-3-Carbinol Reduces Breast Cancer Risk

The cell study, published in Carcinogenesis (2004, vol. 25, no. 7), investigated the effects of I3C on the expression of several genes involved in interferon (an antitumor cytokine) signaling and interferon responsiveness in human breast cancer cells. Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley treated human breast cancer cells with I3C or a control substance. The various methods used to measure I3C effects on breast cancer cells included microarray analysis, western blotting, and transfection.

Findings revealed that I3C stimulated the interferon-gamma receptor 1 gene (IFNgammaR1). They also showed that I3C and interferon-gamma (IFNgamma) together more effectively arrested growth in the G1 cell cycle and stimulated the p21 cell cycle inhibitor, compared with either agent alone. "Our results suggest that one mechanism by which I3C mediates these anticancer effects is by stimulating expression of the IFNgammaR1 and augmenting the IFNgamma response in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells," the study authors conclude.