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Calcium D-glucarate: breast cancer & oestrogen clearance

 
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It has been well documented that good nutrition and a plant-based diet may reduce the incidence of breast cancer and the risk of breast cancer progression. Foods that provide carotenoids, diindolylmethane (DIM) and isothiocyanates (sulforaphane) have all been shown to have an inhibitory effect on breast cancer. Calcium D-glucarate is another key nutrient thought to confer protection against breast cancer via the reduction of oestrogen levels and pro-carcinogenic drugs that are subject to glucuronidation.

All steroid hormones, as well as toxins such as benzopyrene and polyaromatic hydrocarbon compounds, are detoxified via glucuronidation in the liver. Once in the gut, beta-glucuronidase, an enzyme produced by intestinal bacteria, can break the bond between the excreted toxin and glucuronic acid, increasing the formation of carcinogens in the bowel and promoting the enterohepatic recirculation of toxins, hormones and various drugs in the body. Elevated beta-glucuronidase activity is associated with an increased risk for various cancers, particularly hormone-dependent cancers such as breast, prostate, and colon cancers.

Oral supplementation of calcium D-glucarate has been shown to inhibit beta-glucuronidase, increasing excretion of toxins that are normally subject to glucuronidation. In this infographic we explore the potential protective benefits of calcium D-glucarate in relation to breast cancer and the mechanisms behind its therapeutic actions.

REFERENCES

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  2. Australian Cancer Incidence and Mortality (ACIM) Books - All Cancers combined for Australia (ICD10 C00-C97, D45-46, D47.1, D47.3) 2015. Viewed 29 June 2015, www.aihw.gov.au/cancer/data/acim_books
     
  3. Breast cancer risk factors: a review of the evidence. National breast and ovarian cancer centre 2009. Viewed 29 June 2015, http://canceraustralia.gov.au/sites/all/modules/contrib/pubdlcnt/pubdlcn...
     
  4. Putti TC, Abd El-Rehim DM, Rakha EA, et al. Estrogen receptor-negative breast carcinomas: a review of morphology and immunophenotypical analysis. Modern Pathology 2005;18:26-35. [Full text]
     
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  7. Kim DH, Jin YH. Intestinal bacterial beta-glucuronidase activity of patients with colon cancer. Arch Pharm Res 2001;24(6):5564-5567. [Abstract]
     
  8. Calcium-D-glucarate monograph. Altern Med Rev 2002;7(4):336-339. [Full text]
     
  9. Walaszek Z, Szermal J, Narog M, et al. Metabolism, uptake, and excretion of a D-glucaric acid salt and its potential use in cancer prevention. Cancer Detect Prev 1997;21(2):178-190. [Abstract]
     
  10. McManus MJ, Welsch CW. The effect of estrogen, progesterone, thyroxine, and human placental lactogen on DNA synthesis of human breast ductal epithelium maintained in athymic nude mice. Cancer 1984;54(9):1920-1927. [Abstract]
     
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Melissa Lee
Melissa is a designer turned nutritionist, who has combined the two modalities to create purposeful designs for various health publications and websites. Having initially studied Multimedia Systems Design, she then went on to complete a BHSc in Nutritional Medicine which led to her involvement in the integrative medicine industry and eventually to FX Medicine.