Another fat cheque to the medical doctors and government with surgery and medications.
http://www.nomj.ca/2010/09/01/phd-student-unravels-mystery-of-flaxseed-oil.htmlAnd this isn't new either women for yrs have been talking about completely curing advanced breast cancer n women's cancers with flax.
Alison Buckner, a PhD student at Laurentian University, is conducting research on the effects of flaxseed oil on cancer cells.
Allison Buckner, a PhD student at Laurentian University, has confirmed the cancer-fighting properties of flaxseed oil in experiments at Sudbury Regional Hospital’s Cancer Centre laboratory.”When we applied flaxseed oil to malignant cells, we saw a reduction in cellular growth regardless of cell type or species,” said Buckner. “We tested it in six malignant cell lines, including breast cancer, cervical cancer and melanoma (with the same results).”Then we tested it in non-malignant cells and found that the flaxseed oil either increased cellular growth or had no effect at all, so we saw opposite effects depending on whether it was a malignant or non-malignant cell.”
The flaxseed oil induced apoptosis, or cell suicide, in the malignant cells.
“It wasn’t just that the cells were filling with flaxseed oil and bursting,” said Buckner. “They were actually receiving signals from the flaxseed oil telling them to stop proliferating and die.”
Buckner is working on a PhD in Biomolecular Science. Her interest in flaxseed oil was aroused as a result of a science fair project by two Sudbury high school students who sought help from her PhD supervisor, Dr. Robert Lafrenie, a career scientist and laboratory director at Sudbury Regional’s Cancer Program.
Cancer cells
They combined various antioxidants, including Vitamin E, Vitamin C and flaxseed oil with chemotherapy drugs and found that only the flaxseed oil reduced the growth of breast cancer cells.
Buckner was intrigued, and decided to continue where they left off.
“We experimented with six other oils that had a similar composition, including rapeseed oil, canola oil and sunflower oil, but we only found an effect with the flaxseed oil,” said Buckner.
The canola and sunflower oil had no effect despite having the same percentage of Omega-3 fatty acids as flaxseed oil, leaving Buckner with the conclusion that it’s a combination of different components that’s responsible for its cancer-fighting properties.
Buckner spent three months with scientists in the chemistry lab at NRCan’s Great Lakes Forestry Centre in Sault Ste. Marie to learn about the chemistry of flaxseed oil.
The goal now is to understand exactly which components are responsible for its cancer-fighting properties and how they impact on malignant cells.
“We have ideas, but we’re not at the point of confidently saying what it is,” said Buckner. “The next step is to optimize the flaxseed oil and make our own drug. Then, we’ll take that drug and look at it in an animal model next year.”
Buckner, who was born and raised in Sudbury and has both a BSc and an MSc in Biology from Laurentian University, takes flaxseed oil herself and doesn’t hesitate to promote its therapeutic benefits to one and all, including her father, who has cancer.
“We’re hoping to encourage people to introduce flaxseed oil into their diets both as a preventive treatment and as a treatment itself,” she said.
Flaxseed oil can be consumed as a salad oil, but its slightly unpleasant smell makes capsules the preferred means of ingestion. It’s widely available in health food stores and consumed by millions for its therapeutic effects on cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity, but very little research has been done on its effectiveness as a cancer drug.
The seeds themselves contain high levels of dietary fiber and are also widely consumed for their laxative and cholesterol-fighting properties, especially when ground up. In fact, Espanola Regional Hospital and Health Centre was recognized as a finalist at the Innovations in Health Care Expo in Toronto last year for a natural bowel care program that adds ground flaxseeds to food prepared in the hospital kitchen. However, “you only get a minimal amount of oil by ingesting seeds,” so both capsules and ground flaxseeds are the way to go, said Buckner.
Dr. Pablo Cano, an oncologist at Sudbury Regional Hospital, has taken an interest in Buckner’s research and encourages patients to incorporate flaxseed oil into their diets, said Lafrenie.
But natural products and supplements can have deleterious effects, so cancer patients should always check with their oncologist before taking anything, he added.
Buckner plans to write her PhD thesis on the cancer-fighting effects of flaxseed oil and hopes to focus her career on research related to natural products and their effects on cancer.
