This Little-Known Japanese Fruit Could Help Stop Lung Cancer Before It Starts

Actinidia arguta (sarunashi) juice reduced lung tumor formation in mice exposed to the tobacco carcinogen NNK.

The juice lowered the number of tumor nodules in the lungs of those mice.

Isoquercetin (isoQ), a known compound from the fruit, showed its own protective effects.

In cell experiments, the juice suppressed the Akt protein.

Sarunashi juice reduced DNA damage from NNK and MNNG, but this protection disappeared in a strain lacking key DNA repair enzymes.