Preventing Breast Cancer

An effective way to prevent breast cancer would be a welcome addition to any screening process a woman might choose.

Fortunately, new evidence shows that an important amino acid may provide significant breast cancer prevention.

At last month's American Association for Cancer Research meeting, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard School of Public Health released the results of a new study using data from the Nurses' Health Study.

Researchers wanted to find out if there was any correlation between breast cancer risk and blood serum levels of cysteine - an amino acid and precursor of glutathione, the intracellular antioxidant.

Taking the lead from previous studies that have shown glutathione to be capable of detoxifying carcinogens, the Brigham researchers examined blood sample data from more than 700 breast-cancer patients.

All patient records were matched with records of subjects who were healthy and of similar age.

The most dramatic results were recorded among pre-menopausal women.

In this group, women who had the highest levels of glutathione were more than 75 percent less likely to develop breast cancer than those with the lowest glutathione levels.

The risk was reduced even more among women who had normal body weight.

Post-menopausal women with the highest glutathione levels also fared well, reducing their breast cancer risk by almost half compared to women with the lowest levels.

In the conclusions to the Brigham study, lead author Shumin Zhang wrote: " glutathione, might have the potential to be chemopreventive against breast cancer."

The Glutathione Factor

Cysteine is a fundamental precursor enhances the production of glutathione, one of the body's most powerful antioxidant enzymes.

Glutathione is found in every cell of the body (most notably in immune system cells), which is one of the reasons why its antioxidant action is so effective in protecting against disease and repairing damage throughout the body.

In addition, glutathione is believed to protect other antioxidants (among them, vitamins C and E), prolonging and enhancing their effectiveness.

It also acts directly against certain carcinogenic substances by binding to these toxins and eliminating them through urine or bile.

However, all of this effectiveness comes at a price.

Because when the immune system is taxed (by everything from pollution, to poor diet, infection, radiation, emotional stress, and all types of trauma), stores of glutathione become depleted.

Drugs can also take their toll. In fact, acetaminophen has been shown to deplete glutathione stores in the liver.

In addition, as if all of that weren't enough, our glutathione levels tend to steadily drop, as we grow older.

More to Come

The Brigham breast cancer study calls for the next logical step in research: a double-blind placebo trial in which a large group of women, both menopausal and pre-menopausal, are tested with supplements known to boost glutathione levels.

Hopefully researchers will take the hint and focus on agents that could impact the prevention of breast cancer for years to come.