Pregnancy protein may reduce risk of breast cancer

November 25, 2009 by Shawn Douglas  
Filed under: News, Pregnancy

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The pregnancy protein AFP may play a direct role in the fight against breast cancer according to new research.

New research out of Albany Medical College in New York may hold an important key to fighting breast cancer.

The study, set to appear in the December issue of Cancer Prevention Research, found that a pregnancy protein called alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was able to delay tumor growth or prevent breast cancer development in a significant population of tested rats.

In a typical pregnancy, the production of hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) increases. With the production of those hormones come elevated AFP levels. AFP is manufactured in the liver and fetal yolk sac, supplying important nutrients to an unborn baby.

However, the study focused on rats that had cancer but weren’t pregnant. Researchers divided the rats into groups and treated each group with a different hormone. They found that with all three hormone treatments, AFP levels increased and a reduction in breast cancer was noted.

Dr. Herbert Jacobson, head researcher for the study, has been researching AFP and breast cancer in rats for more than 20 years and is convinced that the protein plays an important role in controlling breast cancer.

“The body has a natural defense system against breast cancer,” said Jacobson. “AFP needs to be safely harnessed and developed into a drug that can be used to protect women from breast cancer.”

Dr. Powel Brown, chair of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas, found the research to be promising but said that more testing needed to be performed.

“None of these treatments prevented mammary tumors in 100 percent of the rats; it appears to delay mammary tumor formation and prevent breast cancer development in approximately 30 to 50 percent of the rats,” said Brown, a member of the editorial board of Cancer Prevention Research.

“This study is promising and suggests that additional animal studies need to be done before translation to humans. We may want to further test AFP for its cancer prevention activity.”

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