This post is on Healthwise
A study at the University of Copenhagen shows that cancers like melanoma, prostate cancer and leukemia can weaken the body’s response to cancer by causing the immune system to “over-activate.” According to this research, one way to get the immune system to calm down and act more powerfully against these cancers is to consume more selenium, a mineral found in broccoli and garlic.
When cancer cells defend themselves by releasing liquids that over-stimulate the body’s immune response, the cells responsible for recognizing the cancer lose their defensive function.
“You can say that the stimulating molecules over-activate the immune system and cause it to collapse, and we are, of course, interested in blocking this mechanism,” says researcher Søren Skov. “We have now shown that certain selenium compounds, which are naturally found in, e.g., garlic and broccoli, effectively block the special immunostimulatory molecule that plays a serious role for aggressive cancers such as melanoma, prostate cancer and certain types of leukemia.
The Swedish study focused on compounds called NGK2D ligands that cancer cells use to disarm the body’s immune response.
“(These) molecules are found both on the surface of the cancer cells and dissolved in the blood of the affected person,” says Skov. “We are now able to show that selenium compounds appear to have a very beneficial effect when it comes to neutralising the special variant of the NGK2D ligand – both in soluble form and when the molecule is placed on the cell surface.”
http://easyhealthoptions.com/mineral-offsets-cancer/