Red-skinned fruit and vegetables might help prevent breast and prostate cancers, and could possibly also help patients who already have the disease. Red-skinned vegetables and fruits have long been associated with lower cancer rates.

Researchers in Singapore this week said that the same foods that help prevent cancers might also be able to treat breast and prostate cancer.

Huynh The Hung, a cancer researcher at Singapore''s National Cancer Center who conducted experiments on mice implanted with breast and prostate tumors, said that when these mice were fed phyto-chemicals, which are found in red-skinned fruits and vegetables, their tumors began to shrink.

"Red chili, red apple, the ones that have red skin, they have the anti-proliferation effect on the breast cancer," said Dr. Huynh. "However, the amount we eat may not be sufficient, probably in Asia we eat a little bit more green vegetables."