Diet and drugs can halt spread of breast cancer
Nearly half of women have shoes they’ve never worn
A COMBINATION of diet and drugs could hold the key to preventing the spread of breast cancer, scientists say.
Breakthrough research has found an amino acid called asparagine that plays a vital role in helping the disease spread. Its restriction stops cancer cells from invading other parts of the body.
Scientists at Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute showed in tests in mice that blocking the disease’s production with a drug called L-asparaginase, and putting the mice on a low-asparagine diet, greatly reduced cancer spreading.
Higher concentrations of asparagine are found in foods including asparagus, soya, dairy, poultry and seafood. The study is significant because most breast cancer patients do not die from primary tumours but from the spread, or metastasis, of cancer to the lungs, brain, bones or other organs.
To be able to spread, cancer cells need to leave the original tumour, survive in the blood and then colonise other organs.
Lead study author Professor Greg Hannon said: “Our work has pinpointed one of the key mechanisms that promotes the ability of breast cancer cells to spread.
“When the availability of asparagine was reduced, we saw little impact on the primary tumour in the breast but tumour cells had reduced capacity for metastases in other parts of the body.
“This finding adds vital information to our understanding of how we can stop cancer spreading – the main reason patients die.”
Prof Hannon, whose study is published in the journal Nature, added: “In the future, restricting this amino acid through a controlled diet plan could be an additional part of treatment.”
Martin Ledwick, of Cancer Research UK, said: “Research like this is crucial to help to develop better treatments.” MEN may have suspected this for many years, but now the truth is out – almost half of women own shoes they have never worn.
And many of them have clothes hanging in the back of the wardrobe that still have their price tags on.
Research out yesterday for home retailer Wilko found that while many women may enjoy shopping for new outfits, they make a lot of mistakes.
Forty-six per cent of those polled have at least one pair of unworn shoes, with 37 per cent having clothes with the price tag still on.
More than two-thirds have outfits that have been worn once but will never see the light of day again.
The average woman has 18 pairs of shoes, with 80 per cent admitting to wearing three or four pairs regularly.
Although men are far more likely to wear the clothes they buy, they also have bad habits.
One in three has T-shirts that are at least 10 years old, with 15 per cent having jeans the same age they say they cannot throw out.
According to the survey of 2,000 adults, one in 10 men still has socks or pants at least 10 years old.
Only a quarter of men have more than 100 items of clothing, compared with nearly half of the women surveyed. On average, men have eight or nine pairs of shoes.
They are also much lazier when it comes to sorting through cupboards to bin unwanted clothes.
More than a third of women have a proper clear-out every six months, compared with a fifth of men.
Jenny Graham from Wilko said: “It’s remarkable how many clothes are bought but never worn.
“Having regular clear-outs and selling items or giving them to charity is a great way to downsize.”