14 DAY TRIAL // It is said that one-two cups of wine daily means a better heart.
But a new research made at the University of Mississippi Medical Center revealed that moderate alcohol intake, of just about two drinks daily, can induce breast cancer. Breast tumors that grew in mice which were offered a similar daily drink were twice larger than in mice that did not taste alcohol. This new research not only reveals the connection alcohol - breast cancer, but it also shows how alcohol stimulates tumor growth.
"Alcohol [consumption] is the most important avoidable risk factor for women getting breast cancer," said lead researcher Jian-Wei Gu, alluding to "unavoidable" genetic factors.
The team gave to six-week-old female mice moderate alcohol quantities for four weeks, an equivalent of two cups of wine daily for humans. After a week, the mice females were injected with breast-cancer cells into the mammary glands. The resulting tumors in the alcohol-fed individuals weighed on average roughly 1.4 grams, about twice than in mice that did not consume alcohol and the lump was clearly visible. The researchers put this difference on the blood vessels growth stimulation induced by alcohol.
Alcohol is a toxin and the cells overdrive to get rid of it: they emit chemicals, induce the growth of blood vessels, but the same vessels are exactly what a tumor needs to exist, as they provide oxygen and nutrients. The alcohol-fed mice indeed had increased levels of VEGF hormone (that stimulates blood vessels growth) and more blood vessels than the other mice.
"This is the first study to use an animal model that accurately mimics human breast cancer," said Gu.
Other researches investigated tumor formation in mice lacking an immune system, but that does not mimic real situations.
"In regular mice, if you implant a human tumor, it won't grow because it's foreign [so the immune system would stage an attack]," said study team member Emily Young.
These discoveries can be applied to humans and could prevent and help treating the breast cancer.
"Normal people produce cancer cells every day, but at the beginning the cancer doesn't have blood vessels." said Gu.
This eases the action of the body's immune system, but when helped by alcohol intake, the cancer cells can get a grip.