The Bio-Active Ingredient Which Inhibits Breast Cancer

By Kyle J. Norton

Piperine may be the new source of phytochemical used for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer, some studies suggested.

Breast cancer is a medical condition caused by the alternation of DNA of cells in the breast tissue.

 According to the statistic, in 2010, over 250,000 new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed in women in the U.S. alone and the risk of getting invasive breast cancer during the lifetime of a woman is 1/8.

Most cases of breast cancer start with cell growth disorderly on the surface of the inner lining of the breast tissue. However, at the later stage, malignant cells can infected other healthy cells and tissue far the way from the breast through fluids and blood circulation.

The exact causes of breast cancer are unknown. However, the genetic prepositions that link to the breast cancer onset have been under intensive study over the last few decades.

Women who inherited the mutated gene BRCA 1 and 2 are associated with over 60% of breast cancer risk compared to women who do not.

Another risk factor associated with breast cancer risk has been mentioned in the scientist community
are a diet high in saturated and trans fat, red meat and process foods and low in fruits and vegetables.

Dr. Stoll BA on the Oncology Department, St. Thomas’ Hospital, in the study “Breast cancer and the western diet, the role of fatty acids and antioxidant vitamins”  said, “An increased ratio of n-3 to n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in the diet inhibits the growth of the rat mammary cancer model” and ” There is also evidence that members of then-3 PUFA series can inhibit the growth of human breast cancer cells both in vitro and in explants”.

” Clinical trials of supplementary n-3 PUFAs in conjunction with a reduced fat intake have been proposed for breast cancer prevention”.

These results suggested women who reduce the intake of saturated and trans fat, red meat and processed food and replace them with foods that processed a high amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants such as fruits and vegetables are at the reduced risk of breast cancer.

Piperine is a phytochemical alkaloid in the class of organosulfur compound, found abundantly in white and black pepper, long pepper, etc.

Dr. Do MT and colleagues in the cancer programs at the Chungnam National University, in the finding a natural compound for treatment of genetic mutation that causes breast cancer launched an investigation to examine the effect of Piperine, a bioactive component of black pepper, Piper nigrum Linn, molecular mechanisms by which piperine exerts antitumor effects in HER2-overexpressing breast cancer cells.

In HER2-overexpressing breast cancer cells, piperine strongly inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis through caspase-3 activation and PARP cleavage, the proteins with the function to program cell death.

Piperine also inhibited HER2 gene expression in the promotion of cancer cell proliferation by blockading of ERK1/2 signaling. Piperine significantly reduced levels of SREBP-1 and FAS expression which is associated to promote cancer growth and survival.

Further analysis suggested that piperine suppressed the growth of tumor through stimulating the protein in the induction of cell apoptosis and inhibiting the protein in the promotion of cell proliferation and survival.

Dr.Do MT. in the final report of the study said, “piperine may be a potential agent for the prevention and treatment of human breast cancer with HER2 overexpression”.

Moreover, in the study of piperine on the tumor growth and metastasis of mouse 4T1 mammary carcinoma in vitro and in vivo, researchers showed that application of Piperine (35-280 μmol/L) inhibits the growth of 4T1 cells in time- and dose-dependent manners (the IC(50) values were 105 ± 1.08 and 78.52 ± 1.06 μmol/L, respectively, at 48 and 72 h).

Piperine (70-280 μmol/L) dose-dependently induced apoptosis of 4T1 cells through the proteins that program cell death.

Piperine (140 and 280 μmol/L) significantly increased the percentage of cells in G(2)/M phase before inducing apoptosis with a reduction in the expression of cyclin B1 in facilitating the cell proliferation.

Additionally, Piperine (140 and 280 μmol/L) significantly decreased the expression of MMP-9 and MMP-13 in promoting the cancer cell division and survival and inhibited 4T1 cell migration in vitro.

At the final phase of the experiment, researchers also discovered that injection of piperine (2.5 and 5 mg/kg) dose-dependently suppressed the primary 4T1 tumor growth and injection of piperine (5 mg/kg) significantly inhibited the lung metastasis.

Taken altogether, piperine, a major pungent alkaloid present in pepper family may be considered functional phytochemical for the prevention and combined with the primary therapy for the treatment of breast cancer, depending to large sample size and multicenter human study

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it’s news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada – Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.
References
(I) Antitumor efficacy of piperine in the treatment of human HER2-overexpressing breast cancer cells by Do MT, Kim HG, Choi JH, Khanal T, Park BH, Tran TP, Jeong TC, Jeong HG. (PubMed)
(2) Piperine suppresses tumor growth and metastasis in vitro and in vivo in a 4T1 murine breast cancer model by Lai LH, Fu QH, Liu Y, Jiang K, Guo QM, Chen QY, Yan B, Wang QQ, Shen JG.(PubMed)
(3) Breast cancer and the western diet: role of fatty acids and antioxidant vitamins by Stoll BA. (PubMed)