In Brief
Herbal Ingredient Lowers Breast Cancer Mortality
Phytoestrogens, that is, herbal substances with an effect similar to hormones, are attributed with cancer inhibiting qualities by many studies. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) around Prof. Dr Jenny Chang-Claude now were able to prove for the first time that these substances also lower the risk of mortality as well as the risk of developing metastases or secondary tumours in cases of breast cancer after menopause by up to 40 per cent.
The most important class of phytoestrogens in our western diet are lignans, found in seeds, in particular in linseeds, yet also in cereals and vegetables. In the intestine, these herbal substances are transformed into enterolactone, which is absorbed by the mucous membrane and which the Heidelberg-based researchers could identify in the patients' blood by way of biomarking. Between 2002 and 2005, in the context of the MARIE study, the DKFZ researchers took blood samples from 1,140 women, who had fallen ill with breast cancer after their menopause. After a medium-term observation period of six years, they linked the level of enterolactone to the clinical course of the disease. The result: Compared to participants with the lowest level of enterlactone, the women featuring the highest blood levels for this biomarker had a reduced risk of mortality by about 40 per cent.
When the scientists included also the appearance of metastases and secondary tumours, they arrived at a similar result. Women with the highest values of enterolactone likewise had a reduced risk for such an unfavourable course of the disease. "We now have the first definite evidence that lignans lower not only the risk of developing breast cancer after menopause, but also the mortality risk", says Jenny Chang-Claude. A healthy diet with wholegrain products, seeds and vegetables was sufficient to provide the body with lignans Chang-Claude explains. "At present, we can only advise not to take additional nutritional supplements."
