Scientists from Cambridge have done research on how food affects the blocking of the growth and spread of cancer cells. They found that breast tumor cells "feed" on a nutrient called asparagine, which can be found in asparagus, feathered meat, seafood and other foods.
The study was performed at the Cambridge Institute on mice with an aggressive form of breast cancer. The mice would normally die within a few weeks as the tumor spread throughout the body, but the scientists gave them food that had low levels of asparagine or drugs that blocked this ingredient, so the tumor did not spread.
Asparagine is an amino acid that makes a block of proteins that additionally feed cancer cells.
"This is a great chance for those patients in whom it is difficult to find where the cancer is," said prof. Greg Hannon.
Last year, the University of Glasgow conducted an analysis that showed that reducing the intake of amino acids and glycine slows down the development of lymphoma and bowel cancer.
"We found that specific forms of cancer are dependent on specific ingredients from our food. In the future, we hope that by modifying the patient's diet or using drugs that change the way tumor cells can access these ingredients, we will improve the results of therapy," Hanon added.
The initial stage of the tumor is not lethal. It is only when metastasis occurs that fatal consequences occur. Cancer cells go through major changes in order to spread - they separate from the main tumor and travel through the blood to a specific part of the body where they develop further. Scientists believe that asparagine plays a major role in this process.
Now, human studies are following, and scientists are advising cancer patients not to go on strict diets in which they will completely give up some food before consulting with their doctors, reports klix.ba.
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