Surviving-Cancers.com

A diet high in inorganic phosphates, commonly added to processed foods such as meats, cheeses, bakery products and beverages may contribute to the development of lung cancer in individuals predisposed to disease.

Lung cancer is a disease of uncontrolled cell proliferation in lung tissue and the most lethal of all cancers, being the number one cause of cancer death in the world.

In a study conducted at Seoul National University and led by Dr. Myung-Haing Cho, lung cancer mice were given  a four week diet of either .5 or 1.0 percent phosphate, simulating modern human diets.  When the two levels of dietary phosphates were analyzed, the diet higher in phosphates caused an increase in the size and growth rate of the tumors.

While phosphate is an essential nutrient to living organisms, in high doses it may alter the signaling pathways by which normal cell growth is maintained.  A small alteration in these signaling pathways can cause a normal cell to become malignant.

Rapidly increasing use of phosphates in an increasing number of processed foods may be leading to an increased consumption by as much as 1000mg per day since the 1990s, a three-fold increase.

Due to some smokers higher propensity for developing lung cancer, further studies may be done to correlate the intake of phosphates in these individuals.

The study appeared in the first January issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society.  It concludes that careful regulation of dietary inorganic phosphate may be critical for lung cancer prevention as well as treatment.

Choline, a nutrient found in eggs, can help prevent breast cancer.  Consumed by pregnant women, indications are it can lower the risk of breast cancer in an unborn daughter.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, in a study of 3000 adult women found that the risk of developing breast cancer was 24 percent lower among the women who had the highest intake of choline, 455 milligrams per day average, as opposed to those with the lowest intake, 196 milligrams per day average.

The Institute of Medicine states daily intake of choline for men and breast-feeding women should be 550 milligrams.  For women it should be 450 milligrams per day and for pregnant women, 450 milligrams.

Most of the choline consumed by women in the study came from coffee, eggs, and skim milk.

While choline is required for the normal functioning of cells in all individuals, evidence points to it being even more important for women of child bearing age.

Biologists at Boston University, in a study involving pregnant female rats, found increased choline intake by the mothers led to very slow growing tumors in their daughter’s chemically induced breast cancer.  Those mothers who had reduced choline produced daughters whose tumors grew much more aggressively.

The rats with slow growing tumors had genetic patterns that would indicate a positive prognosis in humans.

Results of both studies were published in The Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.