A mineral in Brazil nuts can stop breast cancer from spreading.
Brazil nuts can halt the spread of breast cancer
Selenium – which is found in nuts, meat and cereals – is a vital nutrient for human health but experts in Scotland have discovered that it prevents a particular type of breast cancer from spreading to other areas of the body where it can become inoperable.
Dr. Saverio Tardito, research lead at the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute in Glasgow, said: "We need selenium to survive so removing it from our diet is not an option, however if we can find a treatment that interferes with the uptake of this mineral by triple negative breast cancer cells, we could potentially prevent this cancer spreading to other parts of the body.
"It is not usually breast cancer itself that proves fatal as it can often be tackled successfully with treatment or surgery, it is when the cancer spreads that it proves harder to control.
"With triple negative breast cancer having fewer treatments to control it, finding a new way to prevent it spreading could be lifesaving."