A good bottle of fine red wine, such as a Chateau Latour or Haut Brion, could have more than just monetary value - and may even improve the body's ability to tackle cancer.

A compound commonly found in red wine known as resveratrol has been shown to have a tumour suppressing effect when combined with the cancer drug rapamycin by researchers at the Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute.

The compound was found to have an effect on breast cancer cells that are resistant to rapamycin when it is used on its own.

Commenting on the findings, which are published in Cancer Letters, institute chair Charis Eng suggested that enjoying a bowl of peanuts along with a bottle of Lafluer or Palmer could improve the cancer-fighting properties of the drug even more.

He said: "If these observations hold true in the clinic setting, then enjoying a glass of red wine or eating a bowl of boiled peanuts - which has a higher resveratrol content than red wine - before rapamycin treatment for cancer might be a prudent approach."