| In the battle against breast cancer medicine may | | | | improving disease outcomes for women. |
| have acquired another valuable weapon - broccoli. A | | | | Chemotherapies used today aren't able to target |
| natural compound inside this delicious leafy green | | | | cancer stem cells, which is thought to be the reason |
| might just help in the fight as part of a breast cancer | | | | that tumors recur, or are able to spread. Early |
| diet based on the results of a new bit of research. | | | | detection makes for tumors that are small enough to |
| Except for skin cancer, cancer of the breast is the | | | | be killed by treatment so no cancer stem cells remain. |
| most common cancer in U.S. women, though survival | | | | Before you rush to the market to stock up on |
| rates have been going up since 1990, due to both | | | | broccoli, know that the concentrations of |
| earlier detection and better treatments. Today there | | | | sulforaphane used on the mice and cell cultures were |
| are 2.5 million survivors of breast cancer in the U.S. | | | | higher than what you could get from eating the |
| The intriguing study involved mice, human breast | | | | veggie itself. Side effects from using the extract are |
| cancer cell cultures, and a totally natural compound | | | | unknown, and while you might find it in supplement |
| that comes from broccoli called sulforaphane. This | | | | form, concentrations are not regulated and will vary |
| substance has been studied before, but this latest | | | | widely. |
| work shows that the benefit of the substance | | | | You should probably hold off on adding sulforaphane |
| comes from an ability to target and kill breast cancer | | | | supplements to your diet at this time, but keep an |
| stem cells. | | | | eye on this very promising line of research for future |
| The team of researchers administered different | | | | developments. There is a clinical trail in the early |
| amounts of sulforaphane to mice who had cancer of | | | | stages that will to test sulforaphane as a prevention |
| the breast and used established measures to keep | | | | and treatment, but it is not enrolling subjects at |
| track of the number of stem cells in each tumor. The | | | | present. |
| treated mice had a marked decrease in stem cells, | | | | Breast cancer treatments vary widely. Many women |
| and were unable to generate new tumors, though | | | | opt for surgery to remove the cancer, and are often |
| normal cells remained unharmed. | | | | treated with chemotherapy, radiation therapy or |
| Tests on human breast cancer cells showed similar | | | | hormone therapy to kill of any remaining cancer cells. |
| decreases in stem cells, at least in the lab. Stem cells | | | | New therapies, as shown by this research which |
| are the ones that help tumors grow, targeting and | | | | suggest following a targeted breast cancer diet may |
| removing these is considered a very promising | | | | help, are emerging all the time, and the hope for |
| approach to treating breast, and many other, | | | | effective treatments (maybe even a cure) for |
| cancers. Targeting those stem cells is essential for | | | | breast cancer has never been brighter. |