GTHG

Vegetable extract kills breast cancer stem cells
2010-05-27

For anyone serious about preventing cancer, broccoli should be a staple at the dinner table. That‘s because broccoli--besides being high in fiber and vitamin C--contains a nutrient called sulforaphane. In recent lab tests, scientists discovered that this nutrient targets and kills breast cancer stem cells (or CSCs).

Why are CSCs such a big deal? Well, they‘re the dirtiest and nastiest of all cancer cells. In fact, they‘re the brains behind the whole operation. So by killing off CSCs, you don‘t only shrink existing cancer cells, but you also prevent new tumors from forming.

In recent lab tests, scientists injected sulforaphane into human breast cancer cells. And amazingly, this powerful nutrient killed up to 80 percent of the malignant cells and in addition, prevented cancer cells from returning.

Now, here‘s the challenge...

For the study, the amount of sulforaphane the scientists used was much higher than what you can get just by eating a serving of broccoli. But don‘t lose hope. You can find sulforaphane supplements on the market. But beware; their concentrations widely vary so you have to be careful about where you buy them.

On a positive note, researchers are starting to conduct clinical trials with concentrated sulforaphane, where they will give sulforaphane to real live human beings to see if it really can prevent cancer altogether. And, you can bet, once those results come in, I‘ll be the first to tell you about it.


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