A protein found in breast milk can kill over 40 types of cancer, researcher says

(NaturalHealth365) Cancer continues to be the second leading cause of death in the United States, with the National Cancer Institute predicting in 2016 that the disease would claim over 595,000 lives by year’s end. Mainstream medicine’s best attempts to treat cancer involve invasive surgery, radiation – which harms surrounding tissues – and toxic chemotherapy.

As the search for natural, non-toxic therapies continues, some good news has emerged: a Swedish immunologist has found that a protein found in breast milk can kill cancer cells.

Natural combination inside breast milk is lethal to cancer cells

Working at Lund University in Sweden, Professor Catharina Svanborg has devised a way to bind alpha-lactalbumin – a protein found in breast milk – to oleic acid, a fatty acid found in seeds, nuts and olive oil.  The result is a unique complex of protein and fat that destroys cancer cells.

The combination, which Svanborg dubbed HAMLET (short for human alpha-lactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells) has been found in studies to shrink malignant tumors of the brain, bladder and colon.

Tests on animals and humans alike show that HAMLET kills over 40 different types of cancer cells, all without harming healthy cells.  Animal testing has also shown that HAMLET limits the development of brain tumors and bladder cancer, giving rise to hopes that it could eventually be developed to prevent tumor growth in genetically susceptible individuals.

In addition, topical application of HAMLET has also been shown to efficiently remove or reduce human skin papillomas.

Landmark 1995 discovery ignored by international scientific community

According to The Telegraph, Svanborg’s groundbreaking discovery occurred in 1995. Over the past two decades, the scientist has been building scientific acceptance for her findings, with dozens of articles published in such well-regarded scientific journals as The International Journal of Cancer, Oncogene, Experimental Cell Research and Molecular Microbiology.

But this acceptance has been slow. After discovering the cancer cell-killing properties of HAMLET, Svanborg published the exciting news in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, a prestigious scientific journal.  Astonishingly, the medical community reacted with the equivalent of a shrug: displaying a mix of skepticism and indifference.

Many of Svanborg’s peers believe that this was due to the fact that her background is in immunology, not cancer research, and – as a researcher at a small university – Svanborg is not a recognized part of the cancer research and pharmaceutical development community.

Esteemed cancer researcher and scholar David S. Salomon, Ph.D., of the Center for Cancer Research, has noted in an interview that if Svanborg’s results had been released by a well-known researcher and laboratory, her findings would have been the subject of intense media attention – with other scientists stepping forward eagerly to collaborate.

HAMLET dramatically reduced tumors and caused shedding of malignant cells

Meanwhile, Svanborg continued her research on HAMLET. And one small study, published in The International Journal of Cancer, is particularly encouraging.

For the study, nine bladder cancer patients were given HAMLET through a catheter five times a day in the week before surgical removal of the tumors. The HAMLET triggering a “massive” shedding of malignant cells, and all but one of the subjects began passing tumor cells in urine within two hours of the first dose.

In addition, the subjects’ tumors reduced in size or character – with no damage to adjacent healthy tissue.

In two of the patients, a nearly complete resolution of the tumor was seen after the HAMLET instillations. For another, HAMLET caused a reduction in tumor size of 50 percent, while in others the tumors changed in character, and showed surface atrophy. The research team noted that most of the passed cells were dead due to apoptosis, or programmed “cell suicide.”

Svanborg concluded that HAMLET exerts a “direct and selective effect” on bladder cancer tissue, and called for controlled trials.  The research is particularly important – as bladder cancers are the fourth most common malignancy in the United States, and feature a high recurrence rate.

What’s next for Hamlet?

Working with a research team of about a dozen assistants, Svanborg has discovered how to mass produce a synthetic version of HAMLET, clearing the way for the substance to be developed into a new cancer drug.

Before being available to the public, however, HAMLET needs to be fully tested, approved and produced, with large scale clinical trials to investigate its effects on colon, bladder and cervical cancers.

Svanborg states that she won’t profit financially from HAMLET. Any money made is earmarked to go to a research foundation in order to channel it back into society.  Since Svanborg’s 1995 breakthrough, other researchers have been experimenting with various breast milk molecules to treat cancer cells.

In April, Svanborg revealed her latest findings at the Medela breastfeeding and lactation symposium in Florence, Italy. The scientific director of the symposium, Dr. Leon Mitoulas, later marveled, “Who would have thought that breast milk had the potential to kill cancer cells?”

With the cutting-edge techniques now available, the cancer-treating properties of human breast milk can now be explored, said Mitoulas. “We are truly on the cusp of a golden age for research in human milk.”

When it comes to potential cancer treatments of the future, Svanborg calls her discovery “game-changing.” And, current evidence would seem to indicate that she is right.

References:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/meet-woman-trying-cure-cancer-breast-milk
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ijc.22810/full