Multidrug resistance (MDR) proteins are best known for helping cancer cells expel anticancer drugs - hence their name - but they also ferry compounds in and out of normal cells.

"Our paper focuses on the anti-cancer activity of one of these compounds, called sulforaphane, or SFN," Azarenko added.

A widely heralded but still experimental cancer-fighting compound may be used someday to prevent two other major killers of Americans: heart disease and stroke.