RSS
Food & Drink


Home Page > Food & Drink > Irish research shows yogurt could help win war against cancer

Irish research shows yogurt could help win war against cancer

By
ANTOINETTE KELLY,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer
Published Tuesday, April 13, 2010, 10:34 AM
Updated Tuesday, April 13, 2010, 1:14 PM

print this article Print
email this articleE-mail
comment on article 1 Comment
 

Irish research shows yogurt could help win war against cancer


An Irish team of scientists based at University College Cork has found that probiotic yogurt could revolutionize the battle against cancer.

Researchers at the Cork Cancer Research Centre (CCRC) have found that harmless bacteria from probiotic yogurt (bifidobacteria) naturally travels through the body and can grow inside tumors.

The discovery could one day rule out the need for administering chemotherapy drugs via painful IV injections when.

It could also reduce the toxic effect many current cancer therapies have on healthy cells.

Principal investigator Dr Mark Tangney said the "bacteria can leak out from the gut into the blood and grow inside tumors throughout the body where they can produce whatever we want".

"We can now genetically engineer these bacteria so that they will pump out anti-cancer agents specifically inside tumors," he said.

Tangney said the findings were very exciting because the main goal of cancer treatment is to focus therapy on tumors without harming healthy cells.

"When a patient’s cancer has spread, then ideally, a treatment should be administered throughout a patient’s body (eg intravenous administration) to allow treatment of any tumors present, including secondary tumors at early stages of development.

"However, current chemotherapy drugs administered in this fashion are toxic to many healthy cell types, often resulting in severe side effects for the patient. This is why we are so excited about this research," he said.

Tangney said future treatment "could be as simple as handing someone a yogurt suspension containing millions of bacterium."

​
print this article Print
email this articleE-mail


1 Comment

See all comments

Carolynirish | Apr 14, 2010, 10:29 PM EDT
I think it is wonderful. I pray that this will be developed so we can end the terrible side effects of chemo.

Report abuse

 




Connect to IrishCentral with your Facebook account

or Sign-Up directly

Already Registered? Sign-In!

Welcome to IrishCentral!
Please provide the following information in order to create your account

Username:
E-Mail Address:
Password:
Confirm Password:
I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy


Already Registered? Sign-In!
Forgot my password

Welcome to IrishCentral!
All we need is the following information and you will be part of the #1 Irish community in the US

E-Mail Address:
First select a unique username:
Username:
Now choose a password:
Password:
Confirm Password:
I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Thank you!

Just one more step and you will be part of the largest Irish community in America! Tell us a little more about you to start enjoying all the features of IrishCentral.

Additional Information:

First Name:
Last Name:
Date of Birth:
Zip:
Gender: Male  Female 
Country:
Degree of Irishness:
Household Income:
Level of Education:

Subscribe to our newsletters:

The Best of IrishCentral - Daily Newsletter
Special Offers from our sponsors

or
Skip

You can edit your information at any time, just go to "my account" when you're logged in.

Log into IrishCentral with your Facebook account

or sign-in directly

E-Mail:
Password:
 Remember me Forgot my password
Not a member? Register Now!
submit to reddit
print this article Print
email this articleE-mail