New Addition to Breast Cancer Diet
In the battle against breast cancer medicine may have acquired another valuable weapon - broccoli.
A natural compound inside this delicious leafy green might just help in the fight as part of a breast cancer diet based on the results of a new bit of research.
Except for skin cancer, cancer of the breast is the most common cancer in U.
S.
women, though survival rates have been going up since 1990, due to both earlier detection and better treatments.
Today there are 2.
5 million survivors of breast cancer in the U.
S.
The intriguing study involved mice, human breast cancer cell cultures, and a totally natural compound that comes from broccoli called sulforaphane.
This substance has been studied before, but this latest work shows that the benefit of the substance comes from an ability to target and kill breast cancer stem cells.
The team of researchers administered different amounts of sulforaphane to mice who had cancer of the breast and used established measures to keep track of the number of stem cells in each tumor.
The treated mice had a marked decrease in stem cells, and were unable to generate new tumors, though normal cells remained unharmed.
Tests on human breast cancer cells showed similar decreases in stem cells, at least in the lab.
Stem cells are the ones that help tumors grow, targeting and removing these is considered a very promising approach to treating breast, and many other, cancers.
Targeting those stem cells is essential for improving disease outcomes for women.
Chemotherapies used today aren't able to target cancer stem cells, which is thought to be the reason that tumors recur, or are able to spread.
Early detection makes for tumors that are small enough to be killed by treatment so no cancer stem cells remain.
Before you rush to the market to stock up on broccoli, know that the concentrations of sulforaphane used on the mice and cell cultures were higher than what you could get from eating the veggie itself.
Side effects from using the extract are unknown, and while you might find it in supplement form, concentrations are not regulated and will vary widely.
You should probably hold off on adding sulforaphane supplements to your diet at this time, but keep an eye on this very promising line of research for future developments.
There is a clinical trail in the early stages that will to test sulforaphane as a prevention and treatment, but it is not enrolling subjects at present.
Breast cancer treatments vary widely.
Many women opt for surgery to remove the cancer, and are often treated with chemotherapy, radiation therapy or hormone therapy to kill of any remaining cancer cells.
New therapies, as shown by this research which suggest following a targeted breast cancer diet may help, are emerging all the time, and the hope for effective treatments (maybe even a cure) for breast cancer has never been brighter.
A natural compound inside this delicious leafy green might just help in the fight as part of a breast cancer diet based on the results of a new bit of research.
Except for skin cancer, cancer of the breast is the most common cancer in U.
S.
women, though survival rates have been going up since 1990, due to both earlier detection and better treatments.
Today there are 2.
5 million survivors of breast cancer in the U.
S.
The intriguing study involved mice, human breast cancer cell cultures, and a totally natural compound that comes from broccoli called sulforaphane.
This substance has been studied before, but this latest work shows that the benefit of the substance comes from an ability to target and kill breast cancer stem cells.
The team of researchers administered different amounts of sulforaphane to mice who had cancer of the breast and used established measures to keep track of the number of stem cells in each tumor.
The treated mice had a marked decrease in stem cells, and were unable to generate new tumors, though normal cells remained unharmed.
Tests on human breast cancer cells showed similar decreases in stem cells, at least in the lab.
Stem cells are the ones that help tumors grow, targeting and removing these is considered a very promising approach to treating breast, and many other, cancers.
Targeting those stem cells is essential for improving disease outcomes for women.
Chemotherapies used today aren't able to target cancer stem cells, which is thought to be the reason that tumors recur, or are able to spread.
Early detection makes for tumors that are small enough to be killed by treatment so no cancer stem cells remain.
Before you rush to the market to stock up on broccoli, know that the concentrations of sulforaphane used on the mice and cell cultures were higher than what you could get from eating the veggie itself.
Side effects from using the extract are unknown, and while you might find it in supplement form, concentrations are not regulated and will vary widely.
You should probably hold off on adding sulforaphane supplements to your diet at this time, but keep an eye on this very promising line of research for future developments.
There is a clinical trail in the early stages that will to test sulforaphane as a prevention and treatment, but it is not enrolling subjects at present.
Breast cancer treatments vary widely.
Many women opt for surgery to remove the cancer, and are often treated with chemotherapy, radiation therapy or hormone therapy to kill of any remaining cancer cells.
New therapies, as shown by this research which suggest following a targeted breast cancer diet may help, are emerging all the time, and the hope for effective treatments (maybe even a cure) for breast cancer has never been brighter.
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