Eating celery, broccoli can improve treatment of breast cancer

Researchers from the University of Missouri found that a natural compound, Luteolin, found in herbs such as thyme and parsley and vegetables such as celery and broccoli, can reduce the risk of developing metastasis originating from triple-negative breast cancer in women.

The findings indicate that Luteolin, a naturally occurring, non-toxic plant compound that has been proven effective against several types of cancer.

“Triple-negative breast cancers are cancer cells that lack three receptors targeted by current chemotherapy regimens. Because of this lack of receptors, common cancer drugs can’t ‘find’ the cells, and doctors must treat the cancer with extremely aggressive and highly toxic treatment strategies,” said Salman Hyder from the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center.

“Women with this type of breast cancer also frequently develop metastatic lesions that originate from drug-resistant cells. Therefore, safer therapeutic therapies that are more effective are being sought for this deadly type of cancer in women,” Hyder added.

The team tested Luteolin to determine if it could suppress metastasis, using human triple-negative breast cancer cells grown in mice.

In the first series of tests, they found that Luteolin inhibited the metastasis of triple-negative cancer in the lungs of affected mice.

“Mice exposed to human triple-negative breast cancer cells experienced significantly reduced metastastic growth in their lungs after being treated with Luteolin,” Hyder stated.

“In almost every case, the mice also saw no weight loss, which means luteolin has no toxic effects; this plant compound is both safe and effective,” Hyder explained.

They found that Luteolin inhibits that migration and can also kill cancer cells.