Herbal therapy may carry cancer danger
By Ben Harder
From Washington, D.C., at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research
An herbal extract that some women use to relieve symptoms of menopause increases the likelihood in mice with breast cancer that the disease will spread, researchers have found.
The extract, called black cohosh, is especially popular among women who have developed breast cancer, because hormone-replacement therapy for menopausal symptoms isn’t recommended for such women.
Some studies have suggested that black cohosh acts as a sex hormone, a trait that could affect breast cancers in women who take it. To investigate that possibility, Vicki L. Davis of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and her colleagues fed black cohosh to mice that were genetically predisposed to develop breast cancer. The researchers gave other mice of that breed a diet free of hormone-mimicking plant compounds.