breast milk and acid?

[Guest guest]

maybe someone on this list can explain this....does mit refer to

breast milk and lauric acid?

karla

Experts found a substance in breast milk made up of a protein and a fatty acid

could kill cancer cells in a lab. (Posed by model)

A substance found in breast milk can kill cancer cells, claim researchers.

For the first time, the substance - known as Hamlet - has been successfully

tested on humans.

Patients with bladder cancer who were treated with Hamlet managed to expel dead

cancer cells through their urine after each treatment, raising hopes it could be

a potential cure.

In the laboratory, the substance has been found to kill 40 types of cancer cell,

with the advantage that it leaves healthy cells undamaged.

The discovery, published in the science journal PloS One, has been made by

researchers at the University of Gothenburg and Lund University in Sweden.

It is the latest breakthrough

involving health benefits from ingredients found in mother's milk.

Breastfeeding is already known to protect against childhood tumours.

And last week U.S. researchers revealed that lauric acid combats acne and could

form the basis of a new treatment which avoids side effects linked with

traditional drugs, including skin redness.

Hamlet - Human Alpha-lactalbumin Made Lethal to Tumour cells - was

discovered unintentionally when researchers were investigating the antibacterial

properties of breast milk.

The substance consists of a protein and a fatty acid found naturally in breast

milk.

Previous experiments have not tested Hamlet in patients.

Assistant Professor Karlsson, from the University of Gothenburg's

department of chemistry, said he hoped Hamlet could be developed into a cancer

drug.

'Laboratory experiments have shown that Hamlet kills 40 different types of

cancer, and the researchers are now going on to study its effect on skin cancer,

tumours in the mucous membranes and brain tumours,' he said.

'Importantly, Hamlet kills only cancer cells and does not affect healthy cells.'

Prof Karlsson said the chemical was discovered 'by chance'.

The Swedish research team extracted it from breast milk to test it on cancer

patients and used injections to insert it directly into tumours.

He said: 'Although the substance was discovered in breast milk several years

ago, it is only now that it has been possible to test it on humans.

'Patients with cancer of the bladder who were treated with the substance

excreted dead cancer cells in their urine after each treatment, which has given

rise to hopes that it can be developed into medication for cancer care in the

future.'

Prof Karlsson's work is based on combining the chemical from breast milk with a

fatty acid to create conditions that simulate the acidity found in a baby's

stomach - which results in a cancer-killing effect.

'So far, however, it has not been proven that the Hamlet complex is

spontaneously formed in the milk,' said Prof Karlsson.

'It is speculated, however, that Hamlet can form in the acidic environment of

babies' stomachs.'

The researchers believe the active effect of the substance after exposure to

stomach acid may contribute to the known protective effect of breastfeeding

against childhood tumours.

They stressed that the development of an anti-cancer treatment based on Hamlet

depends on converting it into drug form.

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