By Jimmy Downs

Monday Oct 1, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study in Journal of Natural Products suggests that alkaloids from Pachysandra terminalis may help prevent breast cancer invasion, which can otherwise lead localized breast cancer to advanced or invasive breast cancer and eventually killing the patient.

The study led by H.Y. Zhai of Tianjin Medical University in Tianjin, China and colleagues showed that breast cancer cells could't migrate when they met alkaloids from Pachysandra terminalis which is a plant in the Buxaceae - boxwood family and native to Japan, Korea and China.

In the study, the researchers discovered seven pregnane alkanoids, terminamines A-G and identified seven known alkaloids.  Compound 1 to 5 and 8 to 14 were able to inhibit the migration of breast cancer cells induced by the chemokine epithelial growth factor.

Additionally, compound 1 was also able to inhibit pohsporylation of integrin β(1), which is associated with breast cancer cell adhesion and metastasis.

The study suggests that using alkaloids isolated from Pachysandra terminalis may help prevent metastasis of breast cancer and reduce risk of death from breast cancer and other complications.

Breast cancer is expected to strike one in every eight women in their lifetime in the United States. In 2012 alone, 230,000 women are expected to be diagnosed with the disease and more than 37,000 will die from the disease.

Breast cancer is largely preventable.  Two major risk factors for the disease, according to an authoritative organization, are medical radiation, ironically used in mammography, CT Scan, and cancer treatment, and hormone therapy.  Other risk factors are not as significant.

On the other hand, quite something can be done to prevent breast cancer.  Vitamin D supplements for instance, according to numerous studies, can help prevent vitamin D deficiency and likely help prevent 70 % or more cases of breast cancer.