Scottish scientists believe an essential mineral in Brazil nuts could help find new treatments to prevent breast cancer from spreading throughout the body.
Selenium, found in nuts, meat and cereals is an essential nutrient for human health.
But scientists have discovered it also helps a particular type of breast cancer to spread to other parts of the body where it can become inoperable.
The study has been funded by Cancer Research UK.
About 4,900 women in Scotland are diagnosed with breast cancer every year and around 15 per cent have triple negative breast cancer, a type which does not respond to hormone therapy.
It can be harder to treat but is often manageable through therapy and surgery, unless it spreads.
Selenium is an antioxidant that helps defend the body against diseases and cancer.
But scientists at the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute in Glasgow found cancer cells need selenium, and when they are moving to other parts of the body they cannot survive without it.
The research team found a lack of selenium could kill these cells, particularly those in the blood circulation seeking to spread to the lungs.
Research lead Dr Saverio Tardito, 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.’
Triple negative breast cancer can be caused by a fault in the BRCA genes which increases the chances of developing certain types of cancer including breast cancer.
Around 70 per cent of women with faulty BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes will develop breast cancer by the age of 80.
US actress Angelina Jolie has the faulty gene and underwent a double mastectomy in 2013 to reduce her risk of developing breast cancer.
Cancer Research UK Science Engagement Lead, Dr Sam Godfrey, said: ‘Outcomes for patients with triple negative breast cancer can be worse than for other types of cancer. Research like this could be the key to preventing this type of cancer spreading, and that would have a transformative effect on how this disease is treated.’
Lisa Bancroft, from Dunfermline, Fife, who discovered she had the BRCA mutation aged just 27, welcomed the research.
She underwent a double mastectomy as a precaution four years ago and now aged 32, is still cancer free.
Miss Bancroft said: ‘Research like this, which potentially gives people with triple negative breast cancer more treatment options, offers so much hope.
‘Medical science is making huge leaps forward. For me, the research that uncovered the potentially catastrophic implications of carrying a faulty BRCA gene all those years ago, has changed the course of my life.
‘I only discovered I had an increased risk of developing cancer because my aunt and my dad were diagnosed with the disease and, because of that, they received genetic testing.’
Miss Bancroft’s father and her aunt died from cancer, her aunt from triple negative breast cancer.
Her six-year-old daughter Emma will also one day have to decide whether to have genetic testing to find out if she is affected.
‘Medical science is advancing so quickly so my hope is that by the time this happens, it will be a completely different world, she said.
‘Of course, I hope that Emma is not affected by this at all - there’s a 50 per cent chance she isn’t carrying a faulty genetic mutation, and she won’t have to deal with the consequences.
‘However, if Emma does have an increased risk of cancer, then I hold great hope that there will be so many more options for her to choose from. Hopefully by then, it won’t be as big a deal as it is now.’
