Substance in breast milk kills cancer cells

Shrek4

This just came up a couple months ago.

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0009384 

marlegal

wow...no way i could begin to read that article, but does this mean we should try to find a lactating mother once we've been dx'd?  ha!   personally, i breast fed two children and had no family history at all before my dx of bc.  it's a crap shoot ladies, just try to live as healthy a life as you can for lots of reasons.

mnmom

marlegal LOL OTF( on the floor)

Thank you for your comments I was similar 4 kids(nursed) & no family history.

still laughing!!!!!!

Day I am sure you meant to be helpful (even if it is not what you expected I have not laughed in a long time)

Shrek4

lol marlegal! No, by what I read, the substance appears in the baby's stomach somehow durign feeding.

No laugh though, seems it's something that attacks ONLY cancer cells, not regular ones. Wouldn't that be a dream come true?

friendoffighter

Hi girls,

I've been doing a lot of research on this HAMLET thing... From what I can gather, it's made out of alpha-lactalbumin, which is present at high levels in breast milk, but also a large component in cow's milk.  It's a protein, and it is the protein in whey (whey protein... curds and whey... the liquid you pour off of yogurt...).  There's been other studies that show that when mice engineered to develop breast cancer, they develop smaller tumors (stage 1) when fed whey vs casein (curds, the other milk proteins) who develop stage 1, 2 and 3 tumors.... 

Can't find any info telling me if the whey protein benefits are due to the formation of HAMLET.  But, I do think that trying whey protein to slow a cancer growth isn't a far stretch, based on current studies...

Interesting new angle at cancer fighting...

CrunchyPoodleMama

Friendoffighter, that is interesting about this compound being found in whey... one of the diet changes I've made since my diagnosis is incorporating more lacto-fermented foods... lacto-fermentation uses, surprise surprise, whey from raw grass-fed cow's milk. I knew there were other cancer-fighting benefits of lacto-fermented foods, but I hadn't thought that whey might itself be one of the cancer-fighting ingredients in it. Thanks for sharing this study, Day, and FOFF for sharing that we don't have to find a lactating woman and start breast-feeding in order to consume HAMLET.

friendoffighter

All,

I just posted another writeup on this same track under the Hollistic forum, titled "alpha lactalbumin and lactoferrin"...  It has more research and ideas... I'm really interested in this new feild of therapy...

anetnut

I will check the Holistic thread, but would like for anyone doing this to msg. me with info on what kind of foods you are eating to get this stuff. I thought dairy was a no-no unless it was organic and no hormones. So I have been drinking some soy milk. I'm game for anything.

Diagnosis:  6/14/10 ILC, IBC, 9cm, she thought stage IIIb but all tests not in yet, grade unknown, nodes unknown, ER+/PR+ HER2-

Colette37

This is bitter sweet for me to look at..I was nursing my 7 month old daughter when I found my BC lump.  I nursed her brothers until they were around 2 1/2 years old...and to not nurse her for that long just plain sucks.

Anetnut.. Soy milk has large amounts of an estrogen like horomone in it and women with BC should try to limit the amount they take of Soy.  Based on your diagnosis you are fairly new to BC..sorry you are having to join us, but this group is a WONDERFUL group of women and there is a lot of info here.  Check out the Vit. D3 threads that are started..it is a wonder drug that helps so many things and is a way to fight cancer that you can control.

friendoffighter

Wanted to update that I purchased some alpha lacatalbumin powder and have added it to my diet as a preventative, and am hoping that my friend will try it soon as a therapy, will let you know how it goes for her if she does.  If anyone else is interested in trying it out, I can give you the purchase info... 

This has been my soapbox lately, I'm sure I'm annoying the crap out of some people, but I just have such a strong feeling about this research. There's been A LOT of published research on this protein in the past 6 months.  Some oncologists that work with another friend of mine think there's something to it.  Would be interested to know what your onc's would say...  Can't get this idea out of my head!

Shrek4

Yes please, I would like the purchase info.

friendoffighter

Day,

I got it through the following website:

http://www.biprousa.com/biozzz.html

You can see that it's sold as a sleep aid, however, I haven't noticed feeling drowsy at all.  

Please find my other post under this forum about "alpha lactalbumin and lactoferrin".  I would encourage you to do your own research and reading on these proteins, as I am in no way wanting to speak too strongly about them, or give anyone any "false" hope.  I can only speak for my own interpretations of the research.  With that being said, I would propose the following:  taking the AL (alpha lactalbumin) mixed together with some peanut oil (a teaspoon or two?) to provide the oleic acid necessary for the AL to be turned into BAMLET (Bovine Alpha Lactalbumin Made Lethal to Tumors).  (BAMLET is the protein conformation they are making in research labs, which is the analogous protein to HAMLET (Human Alpha...).  Scientists believe that AL and oleic acid are present at high concentrations in breast milk, and they come into contact with stomach acid which catalyzes the transformation into the HAMLET conformation.  They hypothesize that this protects infants from tumors.

The bottom line is that the research is new, and they haven't tried something as simple as people ingesting them. So, it is very possible that it won't work.  But my thought is that it's protein powder, supposed to help with sleep, so the worst case scenario is that someone would sleep a little better.

I am fascinated (ok, a little bit obsessed) about this research.  Would love to hear other's opinions... It's just the only over-the-counter supplement that I have found actual research pointing to it's possible efficacy in fighting cancer.  

As for the lactoferrin, that is another supplement and the research is also pointing to that being tumoricidal.  That can also be purchased via many supplement stores.  Check out the research (Google them!), let me know if you find anything else that is in favor or against this idea!  

ihatesnowihatesnow

check out this research group from the university of Washington    they study proteins

http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/