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There's more reason for you not to skip vegetables during meals. A new study shows that a natural compound, luteolin, found in vegetables such as celery, broccoli, thyme and parsley could help reduce the risk of triple-negative breast cancer progression and spread.

In a new study published in the journal Breast Cancer: Targets and Therapy, researchers at the University of Missouri (MU) found that a type of flavonoid molecule called luteolin, found in herbs and vegetables, can lower the risk of developing metastasis coming from a triple-negative breast cancer in women.

In the United States, more than 100 women die from breast cancer in the United States. Triple-negative breast cancers comprise about 15 to 20 percent of all breast tumors are aggressive and often metastasize or spread to distant sites.

"Triple-negative breast cancers are cancer cells that lack three receptors targeted by current chemotherapy regimens. Because of this lack of receptors, common cancer drugs can't 'find' the cells, and doctors must treat cancer with extremely aggressive and highly toxic treatment strategies," Salman Hyder, co-author of the study, said in a press release.

He added that women with triple-negative breast cancer often develop metastatic lesions that come from drug-resistant cells. Thus, safer and more effective therapeutic therapies are being studied for women with this type of breast cancer.

To land to the findings, the team used human triple-negative breast cancer cells in mice. They tested luteolin to see if it could suppress the growth and spread of breast cancer cells. After many tests, they found that the natural compound inhibited the spread of triple-negative cancer in the lungs of laboratory rats.

They also found that mice exposed to human triple-negative breast cancer cells had reduced metastatic growth in their lungs after having luteolin. There had been no weight loss too, which means that the compound had no toxic side effects, Genetic Engineering & Biotechology News.

This new discovery could pave the way for the development of new therapies and medicines aimed at preventing metastasis in breast cancer patients. At the same time, develop medicines that are both safe and effective.