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Preventing breast cancer, part 2
The second part of the article discusses environmental factors, breastfeeding, and oxytocin in breast cancer prevention. Please see part 1 here.
Pesticides, organochlorines, and radiation as breast cancer risks
Organochlorines are man-made chemicals containing chlorine and carbon. They include many chemicals present in pesticides, plastics, PCBs, pulp and paper manufacturing, sewage treatment and solvents. Many of them are xenoestrogens or estrogens mimics, which means that like estrogen, they promote the growth of breast cancer in the human body. Some of them are not estrogenic but are toxic and carsinogenic in general.
Organochlorines don't easily break down and accumulate in the fat tissues of humans and animals, becoming more and more concentrated as one moves up the food chain. They are highly toxic, causing for example birth defects and neurological damage. It has been found that organochlorines act synergistic in promoting breast cancer.
It is impossible to totally avoid exposure to organochlorines but you can do something. You can buy organic food as much as possible, and wash all non-organic produce very well to try to get rid of the pesticide residue. Don't use pesticides or herbicides at your home. Avoid food wrapped in plastic - at least don't heat it in plastic. Consider buying bottled water since tap water is chlorinated and can have many contaminants (including for example a common pesticide atrazine, a hormone disruptor).
Radioactive radiation is very carsinogenic, and the risk of breast cancer increases with increasing exposure to ionising radiation. Radiation has the greatest carsinogenic effect in children and young people, and the cancer may show up only decades later in their life.
There's not much you can do about the low-level radiation from nuclear plants and testing (except moving), but on a personal scale you can try to avoid medical X-rays, radiation therapy, and mammograms since they all deliver a dosage of ionizing radiation and since the risk of cancer 'accumulates' or increases with each exposure. For example, women with scoliosis (who get spine X-rays to diagnose the disease) and women treated for Hodgkin's disease (who receive radiation therapy to the chest/armpit area) have a higher incidence of breast cancer.
Yet there is hope with radiation damage, too. Curcumin, a substance in the spice turmeric (which is ingredient in curry), has several cancer-fighting properties. A study found that in laboratory, curcumin can actually repair DNA that has been damaged by radiation. This is very good news, because one cannot avoid all radiation sources.
Curcumin can also protect cells against xenoestrogens because it can fit to the same receptor as estrogen or estrogen-mimicking chemicals. In a study on human breast cancer cells, curcumin reversed growth caused by a certain form of estrogen by 98%, and growth caused by DDT by 75%. Another study found that a mixture of curcumin and soy isoflavonoids inhibited halted breast cancer growth that was induced by DDT and certain environmental pollutants by 95% (in vitro).
Yet another anti-cancer property of curcumin is that it is a powerful antioxidant. It can therefore protect our bodies from free radicals that damage DNA. This is also why turmeric (that contains curcumin) can be used for preserving foods.
Since curcumin is found in the spice turmeric, and turmeric is the principal ingredient in curry, you can enjoy the protective benefits of curcumin by just adding curry spice to your foods.
The bottom line though is that you cannot totally avoid exposure to these carsinogens. But even if a carsinogen causes a mutation in a cell, that cell won't multiply and become a cancer IF your body is healthy and your immune system is able to kill that cell. So your best bet is to keep your body healthy and your immune system functioning well. This mainly means adopting a healthy diet and lifestyle: clean water, clean air, wholesome foods (and not the chemical-laden nutrient-poor refined and processed foods), sunshine, exercise, adequate rest, and good mental health (= meaning SmILE! :).
Breastfeeding cuts breast cancer risk
A big study published in the prestigious journal Lancet that reviewed data from 47 epidemiological studies in 30 countries has clearly confirmed that childbearing and breastfeeding lower breast cancer risk substantially.
The researchers found that the relative risk of breast cancer is reduced by 4.3 per cent for each year that a woman breastfeeds, in addition to a reduction of 7 per cent for each birth. Confounding factors, including family history, age of starting periods (menarche), body mass index, the use of hormonal contraceptives, and alcohol or tobacco use did not alter the breastfeeding effect on the relative risk of breast cancer.
Breastfeeding acts in several ways in protecting women from breast cancer. Breastfeeding suppresses menstrual cycles which means less estrogen exposure. The lymph system within breast tissue, which is important in keeping the breast tissue clean, only develops fully during pregnancy. Baby's suckling keeps the mother's oxytocin levels high. In fact, non-breastfeeding women can get some of the benefit by massaging their breasts and also kneading/twiddling the nipple, which releases oxytocin.
Also, breastfeeding helps to eliminate fat-soluble pollutants and carcinogens from the breast tissue. They then end up in the baby via the milk - which raises the concern whether the baby is harmed. Of course a totally clean breast milk would be ideal, but the bottom line is that for most people, the benefits of breastfeeding far outweigh the small harm that might come from the typical level of pollutants in breast milk. You can find excellent information on contaminants in breast milk at
Healthy Milk, Healthy Baby - Chemical Pollution and Mother's Milk from National Resources Defence Council.
Oxytocin and breast cancer
There is some evidence that oxytocin, one of the hormones within human body, can help prevent breast cancer because it inhibits the growth of breast cancer cells in vitro. Oxytocin is responsible for many things, including a general sense of happiness, labor contractions, and the let-down reflex in breastfeeding. A loving, caring touch makes our bodies release oxytocin, as does nipple stimulation when the baby suckles the breast. (Maybe all these babies who like to play with the one nipple while suckling the other are doing a favor for their mothers!) This can explain in part why breastfeeding and being sexually active lowers a woman's breast cancer risk.
Non-breastfeeding women can benefit from oxytocin by rubbing and tweaking their nipples regularly. And, don't forget the hugs and friendly touch that help in oxytocin production too!
See also:
Preventing breast cancer, part 1
Sources & Resources for further study
Organochlorines and pesticides
Mixtures of Four Organochlorines Enhance Human Breast Cancer Cell Proliferation.
Environ Health Perspect. 2001 Apr;109(4):391-7. "...the combination effect can be called synergistic. Our findings strongly suggest that there are mixture effects even when each mixture component is present at concentrations that individually produce insignificant effects."
Long-term exposure to beta-hexachlorocyclohexane (beta-HCH) promotes transformation and invasiveness of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells.
Biochem Pharmacol. 2003 Sep 1;66(5):831-40.
Organophosphorous pesticides in breast cancer progression. J Submicrosc Cytol Pathol. 2003 Jan;35(1):1-9.
Breast cancer and serum organochlorine residues.
Occup Environ Med. 2003 May;60(5):348-51. Mean levels of total DDT and HCB were significantly higher for breast cancer patients than for controls.
Xenoestrogens and Breast Cancer: Nowhere to Run - Article about breast cancer and organochlorines, including tips how to avoid your exposure.
Radiation
Breast cancer mortality after diagnostic radiography: findings from the U.S. Scoliosis Cohort Study. Spine. 2000 Aug 15;25(16):2052-63.
Breast cancer risk among the survivors of atomic bomb and patients exposed to therapeutic ionising radiation. 1: Eur J Surg Oncol. 2003 Jun;29(5):475-9.
Breast cancer in women after treatment for Hodgkin's disease. Lancet Oncol. 2003 Apr;4(4):207-14.
Curcumin
A report on curcumin's anti-cancer effects by Terri Mitchell LE Magazine July 2002
Curcumin update - New Research Life Extension Magazine February 2004 By Dale Kiefer
Curcumin exerts multiple suppressive effects on human breast carcinoma cells.
Int J Cancer. 2002 Mar 10;98(2):234-40.
The inhibition of the estrogenic effects of pesticides and environmental chemicals by curcumin and isoflavonoids.
Environ Health Perspect 1998 Dec;106(12):807-12. "A combination of curcumin and isoflavonoids was able to inhibit the induced growth of ER-positive cells up to 95%. ...a mixture of curcumin and isoflavonoids is the most potent inhibitor against the growth of human breast tumor cells."
Breastfeeding
BREASTFEEDING AND BREAST CANCER - Selected Bibliography. A long list of scientific studies concerning breastfeeding and breast cancer from La Leche League.
Breast cancer and breastfeeding: collaborative reanalysis of individual data from 47 epidemiological studies in 30 countries, including 50302 women with breast cancer and 96973 women without the disease. Lancet. 2002 Jul 20;360(9328):187-95.
"The longer women breast feed the more they are protected against breast cancer. The lack of or short lifetime duration of breastfeeding typical of women in developed countries makes a major contribution to the high incidence of breast cancer in these countries."
Breast massage tecnique at Dr. David Williams website
Oxytocin
Oxytocin modulates estrogen receptor alpha expression and function in MCF7 human breast cancer cells. Int J Oncol. 2002 Aug;21(2):375-8.
Oxytocin (OT) inhibits the proliferation of MCF7 estrogen-dependent human breast cancer cells, via specific OT receptors (OTR).
Oxytocin inhibits proliferation of human breast cancer cell lines. Virchows Arch. 1994;425(5):467-72.
The potential for oxytocin (OT) to prevent breast cancer: a hypothesis.
Breast Cancer Res Treat. 1995 Aug;35(2):225-9.
Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
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