Benefits of Flax Seed on Breast Cancer?

I know that I have seen this topic discussed before. But I am coming across information that indicates that Flax Seed in oil or using the fresh ground flax seeds, may act as an estrogen inhibitor which would be of benefit to estrogen positive breast cancer.

Here are some quotes on the subject:

"Lignans subdue cancerous changes once they've occurred, rendering them less likely to race out of control and develop into full-blown cancer, " says flax researcher Lilian Thompson, Ph.D., professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto.

Lignans show particular promise for battling breast cancer. They do this by blocking the effects of estrogen, which, over time, seems to increase breast cancer risk in some women. Even when estrogen-sensitive tumors get a chance to grow, lignans exert a restraining influence that can slow or even halt their growth. In a laboratory study, breast tumors in animals given flaxseed shrank by 50 percent in seven weeks.

Flaxseed has two additional cancer-fighting secrets. It's a rich source of polyunsaturated fats, including omega-3 fatty acids, which appear to limit the body's production of chemicals called prostaglandins. This is important because prostaglandins, in large amounts, can "speed up tumor growth, " says Bandaru S. Reddy, Ph.D., chief of the division of nutritional carcinogenesis at the American Health Foundation in Valhalla, New York." http://www.naturalhair.org/wellness/flax.htm

I am interested in this subject, as I am actively looking for non-chemical ways of aiding my treatment for stage 4 mets to liver and bones.

I think there is debate on this in that flaxseed may work like tamoxifen, making it useful for typical er+ BC but possibly ineffective or even bad for her2+/ER= patients. Confusing since even the package insert made reference to BC. Damn her-2.

Rich:

I'd like to follow up on the information you posted, when you say package insert, do you mean on the flaxseed oil?

Also, where have you seen that information on flaxseed and her2 correlation? I'm intrigued by this whole issue.

The claim was on an insert to flax SEED, not oil. I don't remember where I saw the her-2 correlation..probably here. I think MD Anderson may have an opinion against flaxseed on their website.

Flax seed/oil has, according to a trawl through pubmed, only accelerated BC in one type of mouse, one with a Her2+ BC (think it might also have been er2+ as well). Lillian Thompson did do a study of flaxseed in women with BC in which the flaxseed downregulated Ki67 proliferation AND her2 in a group of postmenopausal women, however, this study was carried out only for a period of a few weeks while the women awaited surgery (which sort of appalled me: do women in Canada really wait weeks for surgery?). Some work indicates that if flaxseed works, it may operate like tamoxifen, which could explain the difference in short-term and long-term effects and her2+.

When I was at MD Anderson, Orlando, for a consult, the PA there told me not to take flax--if I wanted to take it, grind the whole seed and not just take the oil. I am er/pr- so don't know if she took this into consideration.
Janet/FL

I thought flax seed is not good for er,pr+. But it is good for her2+ since it has oleic acid in it. Very confusing, I have been taking it since long time.

Julie

Ok, so if I am er/pr-, her2+ am I supposed to be taking it or not?

[Rozebud]

Al, where are you? I thought for ER/PR+ (like me), flax seed oil was ok but I'm supposed to stay away from the seed, or was it vice versa??

Rosebud,
Yes, you are right! The seed conains lingands which are phytoestrogenic compounds.

By the way, here is a link that contains more studies on flax seed than you'll ever want to read:

http://www.thensome.com/flaxseedlinks.htm

Al

Thanks for the reminder, rosebuddy

Just another note on flax seed oil: what I really like about it is it conatins all 3 omegas: #3, #6, and #9. Omega 3 is very important as an anti-tumoural, omega 9 which is oleic acis has a strong synergy with herceptin and the balance of the 3 is also very important.

Al

See attached paper.

There seems to be som conflicting ideas about Oleic acid and HER2. Be interesting to get a consensus if there is a risk here as I know several HER2+++ individuals taking this suplement.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...t_uids=15642702

Oleic acid, the main monounsaturated fatty acid of olive oil, suppresses Her-2/neu (erbB-2) expression and synergistically enhances the growth inhibitory effects of trastuzumab (Herceptin) in breast cancer cells with Her-2/neu oncogene amplification.

John,
The study you quote and many more like it is the reason why members take either flax seed or olive oils.
Regards,
Al

Dr Javier Menendez, who has done alot of work on the reaction of Her2+++ cells to fatty acids, has only found that oleic acid worked by itself and with herceptin against Her2+++ cell cultures. As far as chemosensitizing to taxotere and navelbine, his work on an Er-,pr-,her2+++ found that of the fish oil omega 3s EPA did nothing and DHA little while alphalinolenic was better, but the effect was undone by vitamin E.
For straight oleic acid, the best source is olive oil, which can be as much as 85% oleic acid. Canola is also a good source of oleic acid and provides omega 3s.

Esther

Your fax info is accurate, and I have been taking it already ground and also with lignans sold in a bottle at health stores. The oil has the omega 3's and the lignans part as you read plays a part in preventing the cancer cells to perform.
Nice to hear the back up info you stated as well. This is a food supplement and not considered an herb or vitamin, so unless you have a distaste for the groundflax, capsules are available and also the bottled Flax oilw/ lignans that must be refrigerated.
Supplements should always be researched for valid documentation before ingesting thus putting your body 's health in jeoardy.

Hugs Christine