can eating(drinking) probiotic bacteria prevent the development of breast cancer?
 

A team at MIT/Broad Institute @ MIT seems to think so

Int J Cancer. 2013 Dec 31. doi: 10.1002/ijc.28702. [Epub ahead of print]
Beneficial bacteria stimulate host immune cells to counteract dietary and genetic predisposition to mammary cancer in mice.
Lakritz JR, Poutahidis T, Levkovich T, Varian BJ, Ibrahim YM, Chatzigiagkos A, Mirabal S, Alm EJ, Erdman SE.
Author information

Abstract
Recent studies suggest health benefits including protection from cancer after eating fermented foods such as probiotic yogurt, though the mechanisms are not well understood. Here we tested mechanistic hypotheses using two different animal models: the first model studied development of mammary cancer when eating a Westernized diet, and the second studied animals with a genetic predilection to breast cancer. For the first model, outbred Swiss mice were fed a Westernized chow putting them at increased risk for development of mammary tumors. In this Westernized diet model, mammary carcinogenesis was inhibited by routine exposure to Lactobacillus reuteri ATCC-PTA-6475 in drinking water. The second model was FVB strain erbB2 (HER2) mutant mice, genetically susceptible to mammary tumors mimicking breast cancers in humans, being fed a regular (non-Westernized) chow diet. We found that oral supplement with these purified lactic acid bacteria alone was sufficient to inhibit features of mammary neoplasia in both models. The protective mechanism was determined to be microbially-triggered CD4+CD25+ lymphocytes. When isolated and transplanted into other subjects, these L. reuteri-stimulated lymphocytes were sufficient to convey transplantable anti-cancer protection in the cell recipient animals. These data demonstrate that host immune responses to environmental microbes significantly impact and inhibit cancer progression in distal tissues such as mammary glands, even in genetically susceptible mice. This leads us to conclude that consuming fermentative microbes such as L. reuteri may offer a tractable public health approach to help counteract the accumulated dietary and genetic carcinogenic events integral in the Westernized diet and lifestyle. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Copyright © 2013 UICC.
KEYWORDS:
L. reuteri, bacteria, inflammation, mammary cancer, probiotics

PMID: 24382758

Re: can eating(drinking) probiotic bacteria prevent the development of breast cancer?
 

The nice thing about (traditional) foods is that they've been eaten for thousands of years and they can't do any harm (eaten in moderation.) That's why I prefer actual food to supplements.

I make my own yogurt. I got the starter for my first batch from a carton of Stonyfield brand yogurt, which has l. rhamnosis, which has been clinically proven to boost the immune system. (Of course, after many years, I don't know if there's still any rhamnosis in my brew. It could be like grass seed--eventually the strongest strain wins out.)

Besides costing a lot less, the benefit of homemade yogurt is I'm sure I have lots of live bacteria. God knows how long store-bought yogurt sits on the shelf, with the little beasties dying off from their own waste, before it hits the expiration date.

Re: can eating(drinking) probiotic bacteria prevent the development of breast cancer?
 

Thank you, Lani. Your research and posts are invaluable. You help so many here. Amy, thank you, too. Would you please consider starting a thread posting the "nuts and bolts" of making your own yogurt? I think many here would be interested.

Re: can eating(drinking) probiotic bacteria prevent the development of breast cancer?
 

Lani, during my chemo I drank the yougurt drinks with probiotics. I feel like they helped me with the side effects of chemo.

Re: can eating(drinking) probiotic bacteria prevent the development of breast cancer?
 

Michael Pollan's latest diet advice includes eating microbes. That squares with several other sources I've bumped into over the years. The thinking is that the gut, and gut bacteria, may play a big role in immune function. Eating probiotics of all kinds keeps us supplied with helpful bacteria. There are probiotics in all kinds of traditional foods, including sauerkraut, kimchi, brined pickles, cultured buttermilk and, of course, yogurt. Pollan also recommends sourdough bread. The long, slow fermentation makes nutrients in the flour (minerals especially) more digestible. (He says humans can live on bread, but not on flour--which would include anything made with a chemical leavening agent--biscuits, muffins, pancakes, etc.) I make my own sourdough bread, too. It's easy. Easier than making yogurt.

Re: can eating(drinking) probiotic bacteria prevent the development of breast cancer?
 

I would love an easy sourdough receipt Amy. Care to share it along with the yogurt?

Re: can eating(drinking) probiotic bacteria prevent the development of breast cancer?
 

OK. I'll put one in the Diet and Nutrition thread.

Re: can eating(drinking) probiotic bacteria prevent the development of breast cancer?
 

I was told by my facility to eat one Stonyfield yogurt per day and I do. I find benefit in it.

Karen

Re: can eating(drinking) probiotic bacteria prevent the development of breast cancer?
 

I am always late to the game. :) I am taking accuflora probiotics daily, 1 Woman's multivitamin, 600 lipco acid, 2 Omegaflex (it says fatty oils - pharmacist told me to take it) and now 50,000 units of Vitamen D since my was at 14 and they want at 30. I did buy 10 things of Yogurt just the Dannon kind to eat once a day, so I should make the make Yogurt!

This working on being healthy is a tough gig!! Should I add more things?? I want to feel the BEST I can be!!

Re: can eating(drinking) probiotic bacteria prevent the development of breast cancer?
 

One more thing!! LANI....You post Abstracts to read, but I wish for people like me you would do that then post in LAYMAN's terms what the heck it means!! Like the Puppy Dog Explanation....Please. :)

Re: can eating(drinking) probiotic bacteria prevent the development of breast cancer?
 

OK--here is an attempt at a puppy dog version:

Recent studies suggest health benefits including protection from cancer after eating fermented foods such as probiotic yogurt, though the mechanisms are not well understood. Here we tested hypotheses having to do with the mechanism of how this may actually come about, using two different animal models: the first model studied development of breast cancer when eating a Westernized diet, and the second studied animals with a genetic tendency to get breast cancer. For the first model, Swiss mice who had not been bread to have a tendency to get breast cancer were fed a Westernized(containing lots of fats that may be harmful ie, not olive oil types, but lard types) chow (yes, chow) putting them at increased risk for development of breast tumors. In this Westernized diet model, the development of cancer in the mouse breasts was inhibited by routine exposure to Lactobacillus reuteri ATCC-PTA-6475, a kind of probiotic bacteria found in European yogurts especially in drinking water. The second model was FVB strain erbB2 (HER2) mutant mice, genetically susceptible to mammary tumors mimicking breast cancers in humans, being fed a regular (non-Westernized) chow diet. We found that supplemening the mice orally with these purified lactic acid bacteria alone was sufficient to inhibit features of breast cancer formation in both models. The protective mechanism was determined to be microbially-triggered CD4+CD25+ lymphocytes(a type of immune cell). When isolated and transplanted into other subjects, these L. reuteri(probiotic bacteria)-stimulated lymphocytes were sufficient to convey transplantable anti-cancer protection in the animals which received them. These data demonstrate that host immune responses to environmental microbes significantly impact and inhibit cancer progression in distal tissues such as breasts, even in genetically susceptible mice. This leads us to conclude that consuming fermentative microbes such as L. reuteri may offer a tractable public health approach to help counteract the accumulated dietary and genetic carcinogenic events integral in the Westernized diet and lifestyle. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Copyright © 2013 UICC.
KEYWORDS:

Re: can eating(drinking) probiotic bacteria prevent the development of breast cancer?
 

What exactly is chow?

I started drinking Lifeway's Vanilla Kefir, and it has these probiotics:

What kinds of bacteria (probiotics) are in Lifeway kefir?All Lifeway products contain seven to ten billion CFU's of the following 12 live & active Kefir cultures per cup:
• Lactobacillius Lactis
• Lactobacillus Rhamnosus
• Streptococcus Diacetylactis
• Lactobacillus Plantarum
• Lactobacillius Casei
• Saccharomyces Florentinus
• Leuconostoc Cremoris
• Bifidobacterium Longum
• Bifidobacterium Breve
• Lactobacillus Acidophilus
• Bifidobacterium lactis
• Lactobacillus reuteri

the first time I tried the vanilla - it tasted really good, so I drank alot. I couldn't button my pants a few hours later - oops!