Probiotics are commonly hailed as a cure-all for many diseases and conditions. Add this to the list: They could prevent breast cancer.

“I am not suggesting every woman take probiotic lactobacilli for breast health, but women might start lobbying to help researchers study this more,” one expert said.

Dr. Gregor Reid, professor of microbiology, immunology, and surgery at Western University in Ontario, Canada, said probiotics may have the potential to thwart breast cancer. He found that bacteria known to assist breast cancer was in the breasts of people with breast cancer. On the flip side, beneficial bacteria were more abundant in healthy breasts and could be protecting people from the disease.

Reid hopes the findings could lead to more research that may, one day, find that we can take certain probiotic strains to prevent breast cancer.

“At the very least, the study should make people think differently about what might be happening in the breast, and what might influence breast health,” Reid said.

The research was published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

As part of the study, Reid’s team obtained breast tissue from 58 women who were undergoing lumpectomies or mastectomies. In total, 13 women had benign tumors and 45 had cancerous tumors. The team also examined breast tissue from 23 healthy women who had undergone breast reductions or enhancements.

Women with breast cancer had elevated levels of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermidis — two bacteria known to induce double-stranded breaks in DNA in HeLa cells, which are cultured human cells. They say the breaks are prone to errors, which can cause cancer to develop.

Consuming fermented foods, probiotics, and a fiber-rich, plant-based diet — along with limiting antibiotic usage — can help nourish beneficial bacteria.

Health-promoting bacteria Lactobacillus and Streptococcus (lactic acid bacteria) were more abundant in women with healthy breasts — both are anti-carcinogenic. For example, Streptococcus thermophilus generates antioxidants that neutralize reactive oxygen species that can cause damaged DNA and cancer.

The researchers had already shown that bacteria are present in breast tissue, and say that lactation may not be necessary to improve the bacterial flora in breasts.

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Reid said there’s also the potential to cnosume healthy bacteria, which can interrupt how the negative ones function.

His research raises the question or whether or not women prone to breast cancer should take certain probiotics. To date, it hasn’t been considered. “Some have balked at there being any link between bacteria and breast cancer or health,” he said in a statement.

Antibiotics targeting bacteria that abet cancer might be another option for improving breast cancer management, said Reid.

Most importantly, the study suggests a link between bacteria and breast cancer, he noted. More research is necessary to conclude whether or not probiotics could prevent or treat breast cancer.

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“I am not suggesting every woman take probiotic lactobacilli for breast health, but they might start lobbying for funding agencies to at least help researchers study this more,” he added.

A 2014 study in the World Journal of Clinical Oncology reported that eating probiotics and fermented products with lactic acid bacteria was linked to reduce breast cancer risk in other studies.

What to Take, Exactly?
So should we take probiotics to prevent breast cancer? And if so, what is the best form to try?

“You can get Streptococcus thermophilus from yogurt, but the lactobacilli that appear to make it from the gut to the breast are not in yogurt,” Reid said. “Potentially, supplements could be a vehicle for this, but no one has tried it.”

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Sharon Palmer, a registered dietitian in Los Angeles, California, told LifeZette the beneficial strains are common in fermented foods such as yogurt and cheese, as well as in some supplements.

“We need more research in this area, but consuming fermented foods, probiotics, and a fiber-rich, plant-based diet — along with limiting antibiotic usage unless it’s absolutely necessary — can help nourish beneficial bacteria in the gut which can help counteract the populations of harmful bacteria,” she said.