Battling Breast Cancer Through Diet

Jan. 18 -- Since 1987, British geologist Jane Plant has faced breast cancer five times, and after her last bout, it had spread to her lymph system and she was told she had three months to live.

But she has been cancer-free for seven years. And Plant believes it is because she stopped eating dairy products. She tells the story in her new book, Your Life in Your Hands: Understanding, Preventing and Overcoming Breast Cancer.

Plant, who is one of the world's top geologists, said she used her scientific training to establish a link between breast cancer and eating dairy products. Though she advocates taking advantage of traditional treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy, Plant believes her no-dairy diet plan, which is rich in organically grown fruits and vegetables, can be a vital ally in the battle against breast cancer.

Dr. Susan Love, a professor of surgery at UCLA, said that though it is an interesting theory, she has seen no science to back it up. Clinching the link between diet and breast cancer would require doing a study on animals, then people, she said.

"It's important to give women this information, but you also need to tell them this hasn't been proven, and they shouldn't try it in lieu of something else," Love said. "But it certainly won't hurt you. We should certainly study it further."

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Plant's Story Plant was doing research at a gold mine in Canada when she first discovered the cancer that she would spend the next six years fighting. After a hot, sweaty day in the field, Plant was undressing in her hotel when she saw the lump, and said she immediately thought it was cancer.

When she received her diagnosis in 1987, Plant, who was then 42, relied on conventional wisdom and treatments, including radiotherapy treatments, chemotherapy and even the removal of her left breast. But in 1993, when an egg-sized tumor surfaced in her neck, it was the fifth time cancer had appeared, and she started researching breast cancer on her own.

After she explored breast cancer rates in countries all over the world, she found that rural China had significantly lower rates of breast cancer. While one woman in 11 is affected in the UK, and one woman in nine in the United States, only one in 10,000 is affected in China.