Cynthia Nixon. My Mother. Kylie Minogue. My Grandmother. Sheryl Crow. Christina Applegate. The woman in the grocery store.

All of these women are breast cancer survivors, and there are hundreds of thousands more that could be added to the list. Unfortunately, there are also hundreds of thousands who didn’t win their fight against breast cancer.

That is why scientists continue to search for a cure. Earlier this week, a breast cancer cure was announced.


As we know, cancer comes in many forms and there are many ways to treat it, ranging from chemotherapy to more natural herbal approaches. Regardless, many times they don’t work. The higher the stage of breast cancer, the less likely it is that the cancer can be beat.

For years, cancer has been an unbiased, indiscriminate threat to everyone. The American Cancer Society, through the generosity of fellow Americans, have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to find a cure for cancer. Yearly all over the country, it hosts the Relay for Life, a huge fundraiser for the cure and an emotional one at that.

Still, with all the millions of dollars raised for funding research to end this horrible epidemic, there hasn’t been very much headway.

As a person who lost their father at a very young age to leukemia, when my mother was diagnosed with an advanced stage of breast cancer I began to try to imagine life without her. She quickly began chemotherapy treatments, which made her too sick to go anywhere or walk around. Soon she was completely bald, weak and would check into the hospital almost once a week.

Looking at my mother as she stared back at me, looking almost like an alien with a bald head and black sunken eyes, I became angry at the world for not finding a safer more reliable cure. The chemotherapy was killing her as it had aided in the death of my father.

This week, a new cure was announced.

Scientists from the University of Chicago published their findings in the journal, Cell, that showed that vitamin A can restore a cell to its proper, healthy processes. This means that when a cell is over producing and becoming malignant, this vitamin A derivative can make it stop. This vitamin A product is called retinoic acid and is a natural, proven way to stop cancer cells that are going crazy.

This discovery is especially beneficial for breast cancer patients because this specific acid works the same way as estrogen does to affect cells, just in a positive way.

According to the American Cancer Society, estrogen is responsible for the growth of two of the three forms of breast cancer. The hormone sometimes alters specific genes that can cause cells to become malignant. Retinoic acid also alters genes, but instead of creating an imbalance, it restores balance to the cells while stopping overgrowth.

Natural News reported that the study also showed that the stronger response the tumor gave from the vitamin A derivative, the greater chance of survival and less of a chance of relapse.

If you or someone you know is currently fighting breast cancer, or if you want to learn more about breast cancer, check out the American Cancer Society, or our post What everyone should know about breast cancer.

With this one discovery, maybe your life will be saved.