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# Beet root juice helps fight breast cancer
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/beet_root_juice_helps_fight_breast_cancer_0929160214/
- Published: 2016-09-29T15:12:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:25:25.000Z
- Description: In lab tests, rat heart cells and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells treated with beet root juice alongside doxorubicin showed less heart cell death and more cancer cell death. The authors say lower juice concentrations gave the best mix of heart protection and anticancer effect.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Food, Nutrition, #vivvo-import

Thursday Spet 29, 2016 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study suggests that drinking beet root juice can not only help reduce the irreversible cardio-toxicity of chemotherapy drug doxorubicin on healthy cells, but also increase the efficacy of the drug against breast cancer cells in vitro.

Earlier studies have shown that beet rook juice with high amounts of nitrate and antioxidants can help prevent the development of cancer (or functions as a chemo-preventative agent).

In the study, both adult rat cardiomyocytes and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells were treated with beet root juice in doses of 0.5, 5, 50, 250 and 500 ug per mL. Some cells were also treated with doxorubicin.

Cell death in cardiomyocytes was reduced but increased in breast cancer cells 24 hours after co-treatment with beet root juice and doxorubicin. 

The co-treatment decreased the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in healthy cardiomyocytes and increased ROS in breast cancer cells.

The co-treatment also significantly reduced the cell viability in breast cancer cells. Beet root juice increased doxorubicin-induced apoptosis in breast cancer cells. 

The study concludes "lower concentrations of BRJ (beet root juice) with DOX (doxorubicin) represented the most effective combination of cardioprotection and chemoprevention."

"These findings provide insight into the possible cardioprotective ability of BRJ in cancer patients treated with anthracycline chemotherapeutic drugs."

[](https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/jcim.2013.10.issue-1/jcim-2013-0007/jcim-2013-0007.xml?ref=foodconsumer.org)

[An early study also suggests that beet root juice also helps protect against pancreatic cancer and prostate cancer.](https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/jcim.2013.10.issue-1/jcim-2013-0007/jcim-2013-0007.xml?ref=foodconsumer.org)

[Previous studies also suggest that beet root juice together with carrot juice can help fight chronic lymphocytic leukemia.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4877878/?ref=foodconsumer.org) (David Liu)

[*Sayantanee Das Scott M. Filippone Denise S. Williams Anindita Das Rakesh C. Kukreja, Das, S., Filippone, S.M., Williams, D.S. et al. Beet root juice protects against doxorubicin toxicity in cardiomyocytes while enhancing apoptosis in breast cancer cells Mol Cell Biochem (2016) Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, October 2016, Volume 421, Issue 1, pp 89–101*](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11010-016-2789-8?ref=foodconsumer.org)