Researchers from Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute have discovered that in laboratory studies resveratrol, the potent anti-oxidant found primarily in red wine, when combined with rapamycin can have a tumor-suppressing effect on breast cancer cells that have developed a resistance to rapamycin alone.  The research was conducted by Charis Eng, MD, Ph.D., Chair of the Genomic Medicine Institute of Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute.

Rapamycin, an experimental immunosuppressant drug used to prevent rejection in organ transplantation, has been considered for the use of anti-tumor activity against breast cancer.  It has been noted that, in a laboratory setting, breast cells can develop a drug resistance to rapamycin alone.  However, the addition of reverstrol seems to mitigate the drug resistance signifying the possible benefits of a dual approach.

Despite the potential for tumor suppression, rapamycin's efficacy with respect to growth inhibition differs markedly among various breast cancer cell lines. Rapamycin, resveratrol, and combinations of these agents inhibited cell growth in a dose-dependent manner. In all three cell lines tested, the presence of low concentrations of resveratrol and rapamycin was sufficient to induce 50 percent growth inhibition.