Breast milk is being used to fight cancer after scientists accidentally discovered it contains a substance that kills tumour¹ cells.

在科学家意外发现母乳中含有可以杀死肿瘤细胞的物质之后，人们正在用母乳来治疗癌症。

Trials in patients with bladder cancer have already yielded promising² results and researchers believe the compound breast milk contains – nicknamed Hamlet – will also help tackle bowel³ cancer and cervical cancer.

在膀胱癌患者身上的实验已经取得了可喜的成果，而研究人员们认为，含有“哈姆雷特”物质的母乳化合物对肠癌和宫颈癌也有疗效。

They also say it homes in on cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed – so it has none of the debilitating⁴ side effects of chemotherapy.

研究人员还表示，这种物质会在癌细胞上生长却又不会损伤健康的细胞，因此不会有像化疗那样带来的使人衰弱的副作用。

Professor Catharina Svanborg, who made the initial discovery, said last night: 'There's something magical about Hamlet's ability to target tumour cells and kill them.'

最先发现该现象的凯瑟琳娜·斯万伯格教授表示：“'哈姆雷特'能够很神奇地以肿瘤细胞为目标并杀死它们。”

She said human breast milk contained a protein called alpha-lactalbumin, which is transformed into a cancer-fighting agent when in the gut⁵.

她表示，母乳中含有一种被称之为α-乳白蛋白的蛋白质，可以在肠道里转化为一种抗癌剂。

Prof Svanborg, an immunologist at Lund University in Sweden, made the chance discovery that the substance kills tumour cells when working on antibiotics⁶.

斯万伯格教授是瑞典隆德大学的免疫学家，她是在对抗生素进行研究时偶然发现的这种物质可以杀死肿瘤细胞。

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.

她表示：“我们当时正在寻找新的抗菌药物，而母乳是这些药物的很好来源。在一次试验中，我们需要人类细胞和细菌，而出于实际的原因我们选择了肿瘤细胞。”

'To our amazement⁷, when we added this compound of milk, the tumour cells died. It was a totally serendipitous⁸ discovery.'

“令我们惊讶的是，当我们添加这种母乳化合物的时候，肿瘤细胞被杀死了。这完全是一个偶然的发现。”