Breast milk is being used to fight cancer after scientists accidentally discovered it contains a substance that kills tumour cells.
科学家们意外发现母乳中含有能杀死肿瘤细胞的物质后，正试图通过母乳来对抗癌症。
Trials in patients with bladder cancer have already yielded promising results and researchers believe the compound breast milk contains – nicknamed Hamlet – will also help tackle bowel cancer and cervical cancer.
对膀胱癌患者进行的实验已经取得了令人满意的结果，研究人员认为，母乳中存在的一种昵称为“哈姆雷特”的物质还有助于治疗肠癌和宫颈癌。
They also say it homes in on cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed – so it has none of the debilitating side effects of chemotherapy.
研究人员还称，这种物质能够对准癌细胞攻击，同时不伤害健康细胞。这意味着该物质不会产生化学治疗那样削弱体质的副作用。
Professor Catharina Svanborg, who made the initial discovery, said: ‘There’s something magical about Hamlet’s ability to target tumour cells and kill them.’
最先发现这种物质的凯斯琳娜•斯万伯格教授称，“‘哈姆雷特’能够定位肿瘤细胞并杀死它们，这十分不可思议。”
She said human breast milk contained a protein called alpha-lactalbumin, which is transformed into a cancer-fighting agent when in the gut.
凯斯琳娜教授称，母乳中含有一种叫做α-乳白蛋白的蛋白质，这种蛋白质能够在肠道中转化为抗癌成分。
Prof Svanborg, an immunologist at Lund University in Sweden, made the chance discovery that the substance kills tumour cells when working on antibiotics.
斯万伯格教授是瑞典隆德大学免疫系统专家，她是在研究抗生素时，偶然发现这种物质能够杀死癌细胞的。
She said: ‘We were looking for novel antimicrobial agents, and new breast milk is a very good source of these. During one experiment we needed human cells and bacteria to be present, and we chose human tumour cells for practical reasons.
斯万伯格教授说道：“我们当时正在寻找新的抗菌剂，而新鲜的母乳是个很好的来源。一次试验中，我们需要用到人类细胞和细菌，为了便于操作，我们选择了人类的肿瘤细胞。”
‘To our amazement, when we added this compound of milk, the tumour cells died. It was a totally serendipitous discovery.’
“令我们大吃一惊的是，我们加入母乳中的这一成分后，肿瘤细胞就死亡了。这完全是意料之外的发现。”
The substance attacks cancer cells in numerous ways – first evading the cell’s outer defences, then targeting the ‘power station’ mitochondria and the ‘instruction manual’ nucleus. These actions cut off the cell’s energy source and ‘programme’ it to commit suicide, in a process called apoptosis.
这种物质通过各种方式攻击癌细胞——首先躲开细胞外部防护，接着对准“动力站”线粒体和“操作指南”细胞核。这些行为都会切断细胞的能量源，并使其自灭，这个过程称为细胞凋亡。
Early trials in patients with bladder cancer show those injected with Hamlet start shedding dead tumour cells in their urine within days.
早期对膀胱癌患者的实验显示，那些注射‘哈姆雷特’的患者，几天之内开始通过尿液排出死亡的肿瘤细胞。
A full-scale trial putting Hamlet against a placebo ‘dummy drug’ is now planned.
研究人员计划用‘哈姆雷特’与“安慰剂”进行全面的对比实验。