Vegetables belonging to Brassicaceae family including broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower are good source of phytochemicals (Ju et al. 2000). Consumption of vegetables of Brassicaceae family has inverse relationship with cancer incidences in numerous sites, including breast cancer (Chang et al. 2006). Indole-3-carbinol (I3C) and 3,3′-diindolylmethane (DIM) are indole and indolederivative compound, respectively. I3C is an active compound of cruciferous plants, and DIM is acid condensation product of I3C, and the latter has antiangiogenic activity (Chang et al. 2006). Both of these compounds arrest breast cancer cells in G1 phase and cause apoptosis of these cells (Hong et al. 2002a, b; Cover et al. 1998, 1999). In one study the antiproliferative activity of crude Brassica oleracea juice was investigated on MCF-7 (ER+) and MDA-MB-231 (ER?) breast cancer cell lines (Brandi et al. 2005). The data showed that active compounds present in the edible part of B. oleracea can inhibit ER+ and ER-human breast cancer cells growth considerably by activating apoptosis and necrotic pathway (Brandi et al. 2005). In another study the estrogenic and antiestrogenic activity of ethyl acetate extracts of freeze-dried cabbage (FDC), freeze-dried fermented cabbage (FDS), and acidified brussels sprouts (ABS) were investigated. The results of this study showed that the extract acts bifunctionally; at lower concentration they function as an antiestrogen and at higher concentration they work as an estrogen agonist (Ju et al. 2000). Thus, these studies suggest that cruciferous vegetables have potential chemopreventive agents and can moderate cancerous effects.
