'More research needed' to determine possible breast cancer cure

Seemingly every week, healthcare experts are lauding a particular food as having anti-cancer properties, many of which fail to live up to the claims.

The most recent example of a superfood being placed in the spotlight was pomegranates, which experts said can help to stop the spread of breast cancer, but one specialist has said that more research is needed.

According to the original study, published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research and conducted by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), sufferers who are given anti-aromatase phytochemicals present in pomegranates can slow or even stop the spread of the disease.

However, Dr Caitlin Palframan, policy manager at Breakthrough Breast Cancer, told cancer cover holders that more work needs to be done to determine the effectiveness of the substance in halting tumour progression.

The team from the AACR claimed that the juice may even be able to stop women from developing breast cancer in the first place, a condition which affects over 45,000 women a year in the UK.

Dr Palframan pointed out that tailoring a diet to only eat foods with anti-cancer properties would be very difficult, however.

"So, although this study is interesting, long-term research will be needed in humans to understand whether pomegranate juice could help reduce breast cancer risk," the expert explained.

She told cancer insurance customers that one guaranteed way of reducing the chances of developing the disease would be to keep a healthy weight and take part in plenty of exercise, as well as limiting alcohol consumption.

Posted by Louise Jones

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