Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, and of the different types, triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is considered to be the most aggressive and hardest to treat. TNBC cells are highly likely to metastasize and form secondary tumors primarily in the brain and lungs.
“Triple negative” refers to the fact that TNBC cells lack the three receptors usually found in breast cancer cells. These receptors can be thought of as locks on doors, and the keys to these locks are treatments such as hormone therapy that can help destroy the cancer cells. In the case of TNBC, these “keys” cannot be used at all since these “doors” don’t even have a “lock” on them. Therefore, the only options that remain are chemotherapy and invasive surgery. However, new research has unearthed a possible treatment in the form of luteolin.
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Luteolin is a naturally occurring compound found in plants such as celery, thyme, green peppers, and chamomile. It belongs to the class of chemicals known as flavonoids, compounds found in plants that act as antioxidants. Plants rich in luteolin have been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat diseases such as hypertension, but a new study carried out by the University of Missouri tested its effects on human triple-negative breast cancer cells grown in mice. They found that the mice experienced significantly reduced metastatic growth in their lungs. Since the mice also did not experience weight loss, luteolin has the potential to be included safely in cancer treatment plans.
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TNBC cells are particularly susceptible to metastasis since they can easily move around in the human body. These metastatic sites originate from drug-resistant cells; therefore, they are largely unaffected by traditional treatments. Studies have shown that luteolin suppress this metastasis of cells to the lungs by inhibiting the migration of cells as well as inducing cell death (apoptosis).
The properties of luteolin that make it a promising therapeutic agent against TNBC also apply to many other types of cancers such as lung, glioblastoma, colon, and pancreatic cancers. Its ability to inhibit the growth of cancer cells is encouraging for its incorporation into future cancer treatments. While further research needs to be conducted before luteolin’s role can be completely understood, maybe just take this as a sign to eat a little more celery.
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