질병 ≫ 몸의반란 ≫ 암 cancer

땅콩 : 암 전이 촉진?

- 면역이 암 전이 촉진
- 땅콩의 아글루티닌(단백질)이 전이 촉진

땅콩 아글루티닌(PNA) 이 전이 촉진?'

최근 '발암'(Carcinogenesis) 저널에 게재된 논문에서 영국 리버풀대학교 연구팀은'땅콩 아글루티닌(PNA)'으로 불리는 땅콩의 단백질 성분이 암세포에서 발견되는 설탕 체인에 붙어 혈액 속 종양세포의 더 큰 단백질과 상호작용을 한다고 주장했다.
연구팀에 따르면 땅콩 단백질과 종양세포 간의 상호작용이 종양세포 단백질의 변이를 초래해 암세포가 더욱 혈관에 달라붙기 쉽게 만든다. 이뿐만 아니라 암세포가 작은 덩어리 형태를 형성하도록 해 암세포의 혈액 내 생명력을 연장시키는 것으로도 분석됐다.
상피암은 보통 혈류를 통해 다른 장기로 전이된다. 이번 연구를 이끈 리버풀대학교 변형의학연구소의 루강 유 교수는 "과음이 식도암" 결장암과 관련이 있는 것으로 밝혀지는 등
먹거리와 암 발생과의 상관관계를 입증하는 많은 증거들이 있다"면서도 "일단 암이 발병한 후 진행과정에서 음식이 어떤 영향을 미치는가에 대해서는 알려진 게 별로 없다"고 말했다.그는 또 "이번 연구가 땅콩의 단백질 성분이 종양세포의 다른 장기 전이를 촉진한다는 것을 입증해 줬다"며 앞으로 더욱 진전된 연구가 필요하지만  "암 환자는 땅콩을 정기적으로 먹지 않는 것이 좋다"고 조언했다

The first study to examine the effects of certain compounds in peanuts on the spread of cancer is about to be published -- and the results show serious consequences for most people with metastatic cancer.

Certain proteins in peanuts, called peanut agglutinin (PNA), can fuel the spread of tumors, says a research team from the University of Liverpool. PNA is a type of lectin, proteins that stick to different molecules of carbohydrates, and the molecules that PNA targets are present in most human cancer cells.

"Previous studies have shown that PNA is highly resistant to cooking and digestion and rapidly enters the human blood circulation after peanut ingestion," say the authors. There it binds to cancer cells that have spread to the blood, helping them to form clusters and to stick to the lining of blood vessels, explained Dr. Lugang Yu, one of the study's authors. Most cancers spread -- or metastasize -- to distant organs by travelling through the bloodstream.

"As metastasis accounts for the majority of cancer-associated fatality, regular consumption of peanuts by cancer patients would therefore be expected to have an adverse effect on cancer survival," the authors conclude.

The journal Carcinogenesis has just published the abstract and will soon be publishing the full study. The work was done in cell cultures and animal models and focused on cancer cells that originate in the epithelial tissues that cover organs and line body cavities. Epithelial cancers account for 85-90 per cent of human cancers. CITE

"More studies will be needed to test if peanut agglutinin will affect metastasis in cancer that is not of epithelial origin," Yu said.

But what about lectins in other foods?

Lectins are common in many foods and concentrate in seeds -- including legumes, nuts and grains. Often, they're destroyed by methods of food preparation--soaking beans for several hours, for example, and/or cooking them with wet heat at high temperatures. (Don't cook beans in a crockpot or slow cooker. The low heat won't destroy lectins.)

While the research is limited, very few other foods have lectins like the one in peanuts, Yu said. Two other foods have similar lectins, but they don't necessarily behave like those in peanuts:
-- jackfruit, a popular food in Africa and Asia, and
-- Agaricus bisporus mushrooms -- the common white and brown buttons, including criminis, and their mature counterparts, portobellos.

The lectin in those buttons, however, "does not tolerate cooking and digestion," Yu said.

(Button mushrooms do have some good qualities. They contain a fatty acid that inhibits production of aromatase, an enzyme that fuels estrogen production, for example. And for many years, health guru Dr. Andrew Weil has been advising consumers to cook button mushrooms for several minutes, remove any gills and wipe off caps in order to inactivate other harmful compounds.)

"More work needs to be done," Yu said, to find out if lectins from other foods can a/ get into the bloodstream intact and then b/ bind to the types of carbohydrates that are common in cancer cells, like peanut lectins.

Stealth bombers or studying lectins? If you had your pick, how would you spend your money?

Kudos to the American Institute of Cancer Research for funding this groundbreaking work.
Contact your government representatives and tell them to stick their peanuts back in the ground and get to work on some serious humanitarian business -- funding scientists to figure out how common foods affect cancer.