Local News

Dietary supplement could help breast cancer patients, research says

By Mallika Marshall, MD

April 12, 2023 / 5:29 PM EDT / CBS Boston

BOSTON - Patients with advanced and metastatic breast cancer often don't have a lot of treatment options. One drug held promise but its effectiveness has been limited by the development of resistance in some tumors.

But a research team in Switzerland has found that a dietary supplement called N-acetylcysteine, which is also found in some cough medicines, can make resistant cancer cells more responsive to the cancer drug.

The next step is to see whether the combination will improve outcomes in people with advanced breast cancer.

Cancer
Health Care

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

Twitter Facebook