Recent research has revealed that grape seed extract are capable of treating and preventing blood cancers such as leukemia. Researchers found that the extract killed 76 per cent of leukemia cells within 24 hours in laboratory tests without harming healthy cells.

Lead researcher Professor Xianglin Shi said: "These results could have implications for the incorporation of agents such as grape seed extract into prevention or treatment of haematological (blood) malignancies and possibly other cancers."

The study revealed that the extract caused cancer cells to die. Researchers also tracked the biochemical pathways involved, a step necessary for exploiting the extract. Professor Shi's group and others showed that the extract protected against solid tumours such as prostate and breast cancer and also caused cancer cells to die.

Michael Millward, an oncologist with Perth's Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and the University of Western Australia said: "Much more experimental work will be needed to show if this effect is specific only to this laboratory cell or if grape seed extract also has this effect on other types of leukemias and other cancers."