Professor Kensler explains that there is a lot of interest in discovering new classes of chemopreventative agents and foods such as, fruits and vegetables appear to be a very rich source.

Thomas Kensler, Ph.D. is a professor at John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. His research focuses on the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of cancers linked to exposure to environmental carcinogens. This research has led to potential chemopreventative strategies for liver cancer in populations at high risk for aflatoxin exposure. “There is a lot of interest in discovering new classes of chemopreventative agents, and foods, fruits, and vegetables in particular appear to be a very rich source. So, we know of at least a hundred natural compounds that work through the molecular mechanism that we're trying to target – increased expression of detoxification enzymes. But, there are many other compounds that work through other pathways that also show great promise. And in fact, perhaps, the greatest promise will come in combinatorial approaches where we take agents with distinct mechanisms of action and put them together to really try and knock down the precancerous cells.”

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