Breast Milk ‘Accidentally’ Discovered As Possible Cure For Cancer

A clinical trial is to take place to see if breast milk really is a cure for cancer.

An accidental discovery found that breast milk contains a substance nicknamed Hamlet that kills off tumour cells.

Researchers said that it does not have the same side effects as chemotherapy because it does not target health cells in the body.

Professor Catharina Svanborg, from Lund University, Sweden, told the Mail on Sunday: ‘There’s something magical about Hamlet’s ability to target tumour cells and killthem.’

Bladder cancer patients have already undergone tests and returned promising results. Researchers are now also looking at whether it can help in the fight against bowel and cervical cancers.

Prof Svanborg added: ‘We were looking for novel antimicrobial agents, and new breast milk is a very good source of these. During one experiment we needed human cells and bacteria to be present, and we chose human tumour cells for practical reasons.

‘To our amazement, when we added this compound of milk, the tumour cells died. It was a totally serendipitous discovery.’

They believe that a reaction takes place with breast milk when it hits the gut.

It produces a protein called alpha-lactalbumin which targets cancer cells.

Hamlet helps to get rid of the cancerous cells in their urine within just a matter of days and a trial is hoped to start in the future.