Human breast milk now being used to fight cancer

• Human breast milk contains Hamlet, a substance that can fight tumor cells in bowel and cervical cancer.
• Aside from fighting cancer cells, Hamlet leaves healthy cells unharmed.
• Further research must be carried out to compare the effect of Hamlet against a placebo “dummy drug”.

Scientists have accidentally discovered a new way to kill tumor cells and fight cancer.

Human breast milk, also known as liquid gold, contains a substance nicknamed Hamlet that can fight tumor cells in bowel and cervical cancer.

The discovery was made by Professor Catharina Svanborg, an immunologist at Lund University in Sweden, while working on antibiotics.

Svanborg narrated: “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,” she added.

While Hamlet fights cancer cells, it leaves healthy cells unharmed. As a result, it does not have the weakening side effects of chemotherapy.

Hamlet attacks cancer cells in various way. Initially, it evades the cell’s outer defenses. It then targets the mitochondria and the nucleus, cutting of the cell’s energy source and programming it to commit suicide or apoptosis.

During early trials, patients with bladder cancer started shedding dead tumour cells in their urine within days after being injected with Hamlet. Further research will be carried out to compare the effect of Hamlet against a placebo “dummy drug”.

According to Svanborg, human breast milk contains alpha-lactalbumin, a protein which is transformed into a cancer-fighting agent when in the gut.

“There’s something magical about Hamlet’s ability to target tumour cells and kill them,” she said.