Using Nutrients for Gene Therapy
The Best "Cure" for Breast Cancer Is Prevention

By Jack Challem
Copyright © 1997 by Jack Challem, The Nutrition Reporter™
All rights reserved.

The recent discovery of two "breast cancer genes" has raised hopes of a cure for breast cancer. But the reality is a downer - gene therapy is in its infancy, and promises of a quick cure create only false hope.

In the mean time, you don't have to cast your fate to the wind. The real "cure" for breast cancer comes from an understanding of how damaged genes lead to cancer - and learning how to prevent that damage.

Your genes, of course, form the biological program that governs every cell in your body. They are a lot like the programs that operates computers. But instead of being composed of written set of instructions, your genetic code consists of microscopic strands of protein, called deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). DNA controls everything from the color of your hair to your risk of of diseases.

On the Gene Trail...

In 1994 and 1995, researchers identified two so-called breast cancer genes, named BRCA1 and BRCA2. Women who inherit either of these genes have a 90 percent risk of developing breast cancer sometime during their lives. The genes are particularly common among Jewish women of Eastern European descent.

Some hospitals, such as the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, in New York, will determine (for a fee) whether a women possesses these genes. But inheriting the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes does not mean you will definitely develop breast cancer. It could mean just the opposite. Genes have functions - usually ones that enhance survival.

According to Mary-Claire King, Ph.D., a geneticist at the University of Washington, Seattle, normal BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes control the cell proliferation characteristic of breast cancer. Healthy BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes keep cancers in check, but damaged genes promote their spread. These same genes also direct the cells that make milk, instructing them when to turn on and turn off. That could be advantageous when it comes to nurturing infants.

Free Radicals and Mutations...

What goes wrong, turning a good gene turn bad?

The answer is a mutation, or permanent change, caused by damage, re-arrangement, or deletion of part of the gene. Researchers have so far identified 125 different mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. But free radical damage to the BRCA1 and BRCA 2 genes may be only a small part of the story with breast cancer. Ninety percent of breast cancers aren't related to these specific genes.

Mutations occur in all cells as a normal part of aging and, in fact, are the very reason why people age, according to Denham Harman, M.D., Ph.D., professor emeritus of the University of Nebraska, Omaha. They are most often created when free radicals - molecules with an unpaired electron - react with "healthy" molecules and rob them of electrons. When these molecules happen to be genetic material in breast or other cells, the DNA strand mutates. The effect is analogous to a typographical error in the cell's genetic instructions.

Free radicals are found in various pollutants, including smog and cigarette smoke. They also form when the skin is exposed to excessive amounts of ultraviolet light from the sun, which is how skin cancer begins. The major sources of free radicals, however, are our very own bodies - they are the byproducts of burning food for energy and detoxifying hazardous substances.

Although the body routinely repairs DNA damage, it cannot keep up with it, and mutated DNA accumulates with time. Eventually, the damaged DNA might tell a cell to keep growing instead of to stop. Because people are now living longer than they ever had before, they can accumulate a lot more DNA damage, which is one reason why more people die of cancer today than in the past.

You don't have to just sit back and wait for the damage to create cancer or take your life. Donald C. Malins, Ph.D. D.Sc., director of molecular epidemiology at the Pacific Northwest Research Foundation, Seattle, has focused on how genes in breast and other cells become mutated. Malins recently developed a way to measure what he calls radical-induced DNA damage (RIDD) in the genes of breast cells. Based on the extent of RIDD, Malins can predict a person's risk of breast cancer.

Malins goes a step further as well. Because antioxidants - such as vitamins C and E - are well known for neutralizing free radicals, they could also prevent DNA damage and reduce the risk breast cancer. "Diets rich in antioxidants that neutralize free radicals may well be helpful at early stages of DNA damage," he recently explained, adding that extensive damage might require more potent antioxidants. "This should allow the damage to be repaired by the body's natural enzyme systems, which are likely overwhelmed by the radical attack on DNA," Malins said.

Too Much Estrogen...

Excessive levels of estrogen can also increase the risk of breast cancer. The female hormone signals cells to proliferate, which is necessary and normal during conception and fetal attachment to the womb. At other times, however, estrogen may tell normal cells to grow uncontrollably.

Twenty years ago, nutrition educator Carlton Fredericks, Ph.D., noted that some women produced five more estrogen than did other women, increasing their risk of breast cancer. Other women may increase their risk through estrogen-replacement therapy.

But several years ago, researchers stumbled across something completely unexpected: many common pesticides and plastics contain chemicals that mimic estrogen in the body. These estrogenic chemicals, called xenoestrogens, end up in the food and can greatly increase the risk of breast cancer. Four years ago, Mary Wolff, Ph.D., of the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, found that high levels of estrogen-mimicking pesticides increased breast cancer risk in women by four times.

Because hormones are so powerful, only small quantities can do a lot of damage. In one experiment, researchers found that 2 to 5 parts per billion of bisphenol-A (BPA), one type of xenoestrogen, are enough to trigger hormonal changes.

Combinations of pesticides magnify the risk, and such combinations are common in foods and the environment. Last year, John McLachan, Ph.D., an expert on pesticides and hormones at Tulane University, New Orleans, reported in the journal Science that combinations of just two estrogen-like pesticides were 1,000 times more potent than they were by themselves. What happens when you mix together dozens of common estrogen-mimicking chemicals? It's anyone's guess - but it doesn't bode well.

According to Malins, these xenoestrogens, along with the estrogen a woman normally produces, could add to the free radical burden on breast cancer cells. Additional free radicals, he pointed out, might also be generated when the body breaks down estrogens and xenoestrogens. All these free radicals would greatly increase a person's "oxidative stress" - and the need for compensatory antioxidant vitamins.

Protecting Yourself...

As frightening as breast cancer is, you can't live in a bubble. You can, hovever, take steps to enhance your antioxidant defenses and minimize your risk of breast cancer. Here are some of the things you can do:

• Minimize your exposure to synthetic chemicals, from tobacco smoke to dry cleaning fumes. Researchers recently wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association that women who did not efficiently break down cigarette smoke and other toxins were much more likely to develop breast cancer. You might be able to improve your ability to break down these toxins by taking supplements of N-acetylcysteine, a form of an essential amino acid.
  

• Eat a natural diet rich in antioxidants. A lot of nutrients protect against breast cancer. Vegetables and fruits are particularly high in vitamin E, folic acid, alpha- and beta-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, and fiber. Each of these nutrients has been shown to reduce breast cancer risk. You can avoid estrogen-mimicking pesticides by eating organically produced foods.
  

• Eat the right type of fat. It's not clear whether dietary fat increases the risk of breast cancer - the evidence is contradictory - but fat might increase the absorption of estrogen and xenoestrogens. Some fats are good for you, though - the monounsaturated fats found in olive oil resist oxidation and are associated with a low risk of breast cancer. Also, eating fish (e.g. salmon) rich in the omega-3 fatty acids slows the growth of breast and other cancers.
  

• Eat foods with tomato sauce. Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, an antioxidant that, in animal studies, suppresses the growth of breast cancer.
  

• Eat more soy-containing foods, such as soy milk and tofu. Soy protein (but not soy oil) contains weak estrogen-like chemicals that reduce the risk of breast cancer. Researchers believe they work by block more powerful estrogens and xenoestrogens.
  

• Take a B-complex vitamin supplement. The B vitamins help the body break down estrogen into estriol, a non-carcinogenic form of the hormone. A B-complex supplement can often ease premenstrual syndrome, a sign of excess estrogen.
  

• Take extra vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant, to reduce your risk of breast cancer. Japanese researchers have found that some people produce low levels of catalase, a compound that helps prevent free radical formation in the body. As a result, they're more likely to suffer free radical damage. In an study of low-catalase animals, the reserachers found that vitamin E reduced the incidence of breast cancer by almost half. As many as six million Americans might not be producing enough catalase.
  

• Take coenzyme Q10. This vitamin-like substance helps your body produce the energy it needs to work the way it should and to fight cancer. Knud Lockwood, M.D., a Danish surgeon, has found that 390 mg of CoQ10 daily reduces the risk of recurrent breast cancer.
  

Simply hoping you'll never develop breast cancer, or keeping your fingers crossed that you don't develop it, reflects a passive attitude and the belief that your risk of disease is controlled by "fate" or other people. In reality, the health of your genes directly influences breast cancer risk - and your genes can be strongly influenced by what you eat. Take your health in your hands, and take steps to reduce your risk your risk of breast cancer.

1 Kolata G, New York Times, Dec. 3, 1996:B5.
2 Malins DC, et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, Nov 26, 1996;93:14047-52.
3 Wolff M, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, April 21, 1993;85:648-52.
4 Raloff J, "Ecocancers: Do environmental factors underlie a breast cancer epidemic?" Science News, July 3, 1993;144:10-13.
5 Arnold SF, et al., Science, June 7, 1996;272:1489-92
6 Kaiser J, Science, June 7, 1996;272:1418.
7 Malins DC, 1996, op. cit.
8 Ambrosome CB, et al., Journal of the American Medical Association, Nov 13, 1996;276:1494-1501.
9 Freudenheim JL, et al., Journal of the National Cancer Institute, March 20, 1996;88:340-8.
10 Hunter DJ and Willet WA, Cancer Causes and Control, 1996;7:56-68.
11 Challem J and Dolby V, The Health Benefits of Soy, Keats Publishing, New Canaan, Conn., 1997.
12 Ishii K, et al., Japanese Journal of Cancer Research, July 1996;87:680-4.
13 Lockwood K, et al., Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, March 30, 1994;199:1504-8.

This article originally appeared in Let's Live magazine. The information provided by Jack Challem and The Nutrition Reporter™ newsletter is strictly educational and not intended as medical advice. For diagnosis and treatment, consult your physician.