Suppression by coffee cherry of the growth of spontaneous mammary tumours in SHN mice.

We previously found that coffee cherry (CC), residue after removal of coffee beans, significantly suppressed the development of spontaneous mammary tumours of mice. In this paper, the effects of CC on the growth of the palpable size of this type of tumour was examined. Free access as drinking water of 0.5% solution of the hot water extract of CC for 10 days resulted in a marked inhibition of the tumour growth: The percent changes of tumour sizes were 53.8 +/- 11.7% and 13.8 +/- 10.9% in the control and the experimental groups, respectively. Associated with this, thymidylate synthetase activity in the mammary tumours was significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control. Normal and preneoplastic mammary gland growth, body weight change and weights and structures of endocrine organs were only slightly affected by the treatment. The findings indicate that CC is promising as an antitumour agent.