

Squeezing breasts 'can stop cancer'



Scientists do not envisage fighting breast cancer with a new range of compression bras, but they believe the research provides clues that could lead to new treatments.

“People have known for centuries that physical force can influence our bodies,” said Gautham Venugopalan, a leading member of the research team at the University of California in Berkeley. “When we lift weights our muscles get bigger. The force of gravity is essential to keeping our bones strong. Here we show that physical force can play a role in the growth - and reversion - of cancer cells.”





“Malignant cells have not completely forgotten how to be healthy; they just need the right cues to guide them back to a healthy growth pattern,” said Mr Venugopalan, a doctoral student.

The results were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology in San Francisco.

Professor Daniel Fletcher, who runs the Berkeley laboratory, said: “We are showing that tissue organisation is sensitive to mechanical inputs from the environment at the beginning stages of growth and development.


He added: “Compression, in and of itself, is not likely to be a therapy. But this does give us new clues to track down the molecules and structures that could eventually be targeted for therapies.”

Adding a drug that helps to prevent cells adhering to their neighbours reversed the effects of compression, the scientists found. The cells returned to a disorganised, cancerous state despite being compressed.

Readers' comments (3)

  • Could be an interesting development. Would this explain why women who breastfeed have lower breast cancer rates ??

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  • Obviously, then, I spent my youth fighting breast cancer!

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  • It's a quantum leap from an in vitro study to an in vivo one and there are so many factors to be taken into account when the cells are in a living body.

    The list of experiments conducted in the laboratory that have led to futile application to real organisms - animals or humans - is endless.

    One can only hope that this is not another false dawn that raises unrealistic hopes in breast cancer sufferers.

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