According to research published this month in the International Journal of Oncology, a derivative of vitamin A, called retoinic acid, has been found to change pre-cancerous cells back to normal, healthy cells. While retoinic acid has shown no effect on cancer cells themselves, it has be shown to be very effective in changing back malicious cells before they turn into cancer. Not only does the cell go back to the appearance of being normal, but the genetic sequence actually becomes rewritten due to the retoinic acid. Dr. Sandra V. Fernandez and her team were able to figure out the exact stage of cells that retoinic acid was effective in because they tested 4 different cell types: normal, pre-cancerous, cancerous, and fully aggressive. Their research showed that all of the pre-cancerous cells were reverted back into normal cells, while the cancerous and fully aggressive cells had no change. Their study revealed that there was also a specific dosage that was most effective towards the pre-cancerous cells too. The next part of their research will be trying to figure out if the amount of the retoinic acid dosage can be maintained on an animal model, and whether or not the concentration will work the same in animals.
This article is personal for me because much of my mother's family has had breast cancer in the past. From a genetic standpoint, I worry that my mother or I will be affected. I sincerely hope that after further research, vitamin A will be able to be used as a breast cancer preventative, since there isn't that much out there on the market right now in the preventative category. With any luck, the research will get done soon and allow women with a predisposition to breast cancer a way to protect themselves.
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