It has been said that resveratrol could theoretically increase the risk for cancer because it inhibits the p53 tumor suppressor gene. Is it possible that resveratrol even remotely increases the risk for any type of cancer?

The p53 gene is a tumour-suppressing gene, socalled because, when functioning, it stops tumors from forming. If damaged DNAis beyond repair, p53 causes the cell to self-destruct. So, early on, there wasconcern that resveratrol might increase the risk for cancer, though reams ofscientific evidence show resveratrol halts tumor formation. The most recentstudy now shows that the p53 gene is not what it was thought to be. In a study of chemo patients, scientists at the Georgia Instituteof Technology and the Ovarian Cancer Institute found 70 percent of people whosetumors had mutations in the gene p53 were still alive after five years. Patientswith normal p53 displayed only a 30 percent survival rate.

The scientists said those findings raise the possibility of a new strategy for fighting cancer– namely, developing drugs to disable the functioning of that gene in thetumors of patients undergoing chemotherapy. ;