Fermented milks and cancer

G. PERDIGON; A. DE MORENO DE LEBLANC; E. MENDEZ UTZ

Dairy in Human Health and Disease across the Lifespan

Elsevier

Lugar: Oxford; Año: 2017; p. 343 - 351

er compounds that can be associated to health benefits. Cancer cases are still increasing globally and the current treatments can affect patient?s quality of life, reason for which patients under conventional therapies tend to consume foods that in addition to their nutritional values can offer some benefits for their health. Several studies have shown that fermented milks containing probiotic microorganisms and traditional dairy products such as yoghurt and kefir were associated to decreased risk of certain types of cancer. The use of animal models allowed the understanding of some mechanisms by which these dairy products exert their effects, and the modulation of the host immune response appears as one of the most evaluated. The present chapter will present some examples of studies using animal models, human clinical trials and epidemiological researches where fermented milks were shown to be effective in in preventing or as an adjunct to cancer treatment. These fermented milks could potentiate conventional treatments by reducing their undesirable side effects and improving the general well-being of cancer patients.