Breast Cancer Prevention with Iodine Supplementation

by Jeffrey Dach MD

This article is Part One of a series.  For part Two, Click Here.

A good friend of ours just went through an ordeal with breast cancer. The incidence of breast cancer has increased to 1 in 8 women, with 4,000 new cases weekly. You might ask, could there be a preventive measure which is safe, cheap and widely available that has been overlooked?

Above Image: Iodine in beaker, Elemental Iodine Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The answer is YES, and it’s the essential mineral, Iodine, which was added to table salt in 1924 as part of a national program to prevent Goiter.  Goiter is a form of thyroid enlargement caused by iodine deficiency.

Left Image: Mammogram showing small spiculated breast cancer.

Our Diet is Iodine Deficient

Iodized salt is the major source of dietary iodine for Americans.  Yet, many of us have been told by the doctor to avoid salt, because salt causes high blood pressure.  Those following this advice will have very little  dietary iodine.  In fact, we have a generalized iodine deficiency in our population.  Currently 15% of the US adult female population is classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as iodine deficient. (9)  Although all processed foods contain a large quantity of salt, none of this added salt is  iodized.  There is no iodine added.

Image left Courtesy Hain Salt: Iodized Sea Salt available at grocery store.

The RDA for Iodine is too Low for Optimal Health 

According to Guy Abraham MD, our dietary intake of Iodine is too low.  This was set at 150 mcg per day as the government recommended daily allowance (RDA).  Dr. Guy Abraham recommends higher Iodine intake of 12.5 mg per day, corresponding to the Japanese daily Iodine intake.  Higher dietary Iodine explains why the Japanese have the lowest rates for cancer of the breast, prostate and thyroid.

How Safe is Iodine Supplementation? 

Iodine is the only trace element that can be ingested safely in amounts up to 100,000 times the RDA. Potassium iodide has been prescribed safely to large numbers pulmonary (COPD) patients in amounts of up to 2,400 milligrams per day for several years.(23) This is a well-known treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which helps mobilize lung secretions. (18)

Image Left: Courtesy Morton Iodized Salt

FDA recommends 130 mg of Iodine

The FDA has officially stated that Iodine supplementation is safe and actually recommends 130 mg of potassium Iodide for adults in case of Radiation Emergency to protect the population from thyroid cancer. (17)

Iodine Allergy?

“Iodine allergy” is a misnomer since this name applies to allergy to iodinated radiographic contrast agents, and not to elemental iodine which is quite different chemically. (10)  Elemental Iodine is an essential mineral and required for health.  Deficiency of Iodine in the developing embryo causes cretinism, and deficiency in the developing child causes goiter.   As such, any developing embryo that is allergic to iodine would not survive more than a few weeks, and therefore there is can be no  allergy to elemental iodine, same as there can not be an allergy to oxygen or water, also essential nutrients.

Iodine, a well-known topical antiseptic and antimicrobial agent, also directly kills cancer cells and serves as the key player in our body’s surveillance system for removing abnormal pre-cancer cells. There is considerable medical research to support this statement.

Upper Left Image: Povidone Iodine, a topical antiseptic, available at the grocery or drugstore.

Iodine Deficiency Causes Fibrocystic Breast Disease,  Breast Cancer and Thyroid Cancer – Dr. Eskin

Dr. B.A. Eskin published 80 papers over 30 years researching iodine and breast cancer, and he reports that iodine deficiency causes breast cancer and thyroid cancer in humans and animals.(11)(12)  Iodine deficiency is also known to cause a pre-cancerous condition called fibrocystic breast disease. (13) Ghent published a paper in 1993 which showed iodine supplementation works quite well to reverse and resolve fibrocystic changes of the breast, and this is again the subject of a current clinical study.(14)(15)

Despite its obvious potential, not much has been done with Iodine treatment over the past 40 years in the United States. Since iodine isn’t patent-able and is therefore unlikely to be profitable to market, there is no money to fund studies for “FDA approval”. However, FDA approval is not required since Iodine is already an additive to table salt at the supermarket.

Iodine Deficiency – Thyroid Cysts and Nodules

As an interventional radiologist working in the hospital for 25 years, a large part of my job was evaluating thyroid abnormalities, nodules, and cysts with ultrasound, radionuclide scans, and needle biopsy. Although it was obvious these common thyroid abnormalities were due to iodine deficiency, I often wondered why none of the patients ever received iodine supplementation. The obvious answer is they should have been.  The protective role of iodine is ignored by mainstream medicine.

Iodine Deficiency – Fibrocystic Breast Disease

Part of my day as a radiologist was spent reading mammograms and breast ultrasound studies.  Fibrocystic breast disease was quite common, and these women would return for needle aspiration procedure of the many breast cysts, and needle biopsy of the benign solid nodules.  Many of these ladies returned multiple times for the procedures because the medical system had no useful treatment to offer them.  We now know there is a very useful medical treatment.  Iodine supplementation not only resolves breast cysts and fibrocystic breast disease, it also resolves ovarian cysts and thyroid cysts.  Actually Iodine supplementation has always been available, but again this is ignored by mainstream medicine, and hospital based physicians are unaware of it.

Goiter is Caused by Iodine Deficiency

Iodine deficiency is the direct cause of Goiter, as well as enlargement of the thyroid gland with thyroid nodules and cysts. In severe cases, the enlargement can be massive.

See image at left showing Goiter in the neck caused by Iodine Deficiency.  The thyroid nodule epidemic is also caused by Iodine Deficiency.  Left Image Goiter in Neck, Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Which Iodine Supplement to Use?

There are many Iodine supplements. Lugol’s Solution has been used for many years. We use Iodoral from Optimox (16), a company owned by Guy Abraham, a former professor of obstetrics and gynecology at UCLA who started “The Iodine Project” in 1997, and engaged two family practice physicians, Jorge Flechas and David Brownstein to carry out clinical studies of the hypothesis that the body needs 12.5 mg of iodine a day.  Image upper left Courtesy of Optimox: Iodoral, Iodine tablets

More than 4,000 patients in this project consumed Iodine supplements from 12 to 50 mg per day, and in those with diabetes, up to 100 mg a day. They reported their findings that Iodine does indeed reverse fibrocystic disease; diabetic patients require less insulin; hypothyroid patients require less thyroid medication; symptoms of fibromyalgia resolve, and patients with migraine headaches stop having them.

The Nobel laureate Dr. Albert Szent Györgi (1893–1986), the physician who discovered vitamin C, used Iodine freely in his medical practice. The standard dose of potassium iodide given in those days was 1 gram, which contains 770 mg of iodine. Dr. Albert Szent Györgi writes: 

“When I was a medical student, iodine in the form of KI (Potassium Iodide) was the universal medicine. Nobody knew what it did, but it did something and did something good. We students used to sum up the situation in this little rhyme: If ye don’t know where, what, and why Prescribe ye then K and I”

Combination of High Iodine and High Selenium Levels

In 2020, Dr Jonas Manjer studied serum levels of iodine and selenium in the Malmö Diet and Cancer Study which provided prediagnostic serum samples for 1,159 breast cancer cases and 1,136 controls. Dr Manjer found the combination of high selenium and high iodine levels were associated with a 25 percent reduction in breast cancer, writing:

Among women with high selenium levels (above the median), high iodine levels were associated with a lower risk of breast cancer; the OR for above versus below the median was 0.75 (0.57-0.99). The corresponding OR for women with low selenium was 1.15 (0.87-1.50), and the P interaction was 0.06…Conclusions: The combination of high serum iodine levels and high selenium levels was associated with a lower risk of breast cancer. (24)

Iodoral is available without a prescription on Amazon (21)

Visit the hypothyroidism page on my web site for more thyroid related information.(22)

Iodoral is an important part of our breast cancer prevention program.

See David Brownstein’s Book on Iodine (4)

For additional information on Iodine as a breast cancer preventive: See the following authors: Guy Abraham, MD (1), Robert Derry MD PHD (2) (3), David Brownstein MD (4)(5), George Flechas MD  (6) (20), Donald Miller, M.D. (7)(8)

This article is Part One.  Part Two: Iodine Treats Breast Cancer, the Overwhelming Evidence

Click Here for WHO Iodine Testing Guidelines:  Iodine Guidelines: WHO_Urinary Excretion 2013 World Health Organization

Natural Thyroid Toolkit

If you liked this article, you might like my new book, Natural Thyroid Toolkit available on Amazon. If you purchase a book, remember to  leave a favorable review. That would be much appreciated. See the book cover, left image.

Jeffrey Dach MD
7450 Griffin Road, Suite 180
Davie, Fl 33314
954-972-4663
www.jeffreydach.com
www.drdach.com
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www.bioidenticalhormones101.com
www.truemedmd.com

Articles with related interest:

Breast Cancer Prevention with Iodine Supplementation

Iodine Treats Breast Cancer, Overwhelming Evidence

Iodine Crisis by Lynne Farrow

Jeffrey Dach MD
7450 Griffin Road Suite 190
Davie, Florida 33314
954-792-4663
https://jeffreydachmd.com/
http://www.drdach.com/
http://www.naturalmedicine101.com/
http://www.truemedmd.com/
http://www.bioidenticalhormones101.com/

References   (1) http://www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/opt_Research_I.shtml
Publications by Guy Abraham MD on Iodine references at Optimox.com

(2)  Breast Cancer and Iodine : How to Prevent and How to Survive Breast Cancer by Dr. David Derry M.D., Ph.D.

(3) http://thyroid.about.com/library/derry/bl1a.htm
Dr. David Derry Answers Reader Questions Brought to you by Mary Shomon, Your Thyroid Guide. Discussion of Iodine as Breast Cancer Prevention

(4) Iodine: Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It (2nd Edition)  by David Brownstein MD, Book.

(5) http://www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/IOD-09/IOD_09.htm
Clinical Experience with Inorganic Non-radioactive Iodine/Iodide by David Brownstein, M.D.

(6) www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/IOD-10/IOD_10.htm
Orthoiodosupplementation in a Primary Care Practice by Jorge D. Flechas, M.D.

(7) http://www.lewrockwell.com/miller/miller20.html
Iodine for Health by Donald W. Miller, Jr., MD on Lew Rockwell Blog

(8) http://www.donaldmiller.com/Iodine%20Talk.doc
Iodine in Health and Civil Defense Presented at the 24th Annual Meeting of Doctors of Disaster Preparedness at Portland State University, August 6, 2006 by Donald W. Miller, Jr., M.D.

(9) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8979164
Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 1996;66(4):350-62. Total diet study: estimated dietary intakes of nutritional elements, 1982-1991.Pennington JA, Schoen SA. Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Washington, DC 20204, USA.

(10) http://www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/pdfs/IOD01.pdf
Optimum Levels of Iodine for Greatest Mental and Physical Health by Guy E. Abraham, MD, Jorge D. Flechas, MD, and John C. Hakala, RPh THE ORIGINAL INTERNIST September 2002 page 5.  Effect of daily ingestion of a tablet containing 5 mg iodine and 7.5 mg iodide as the potassium salt, for a period of 3 months, on the results of thyroid function tests and thyroid volume by ultrasonometry in ten euthyroid Caucasian women  See Table 7.

(11) http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/reprint/35/9/2332
Bernard A. Eskin et al. Rat mammary gland atypia produced by iodine blockade with perchlorate. Cancer Res. 1975 Sep;35(9):2332-9

(12) http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/reprint/46/2/877
Dietary Iodine Deficiency as a Tumor Promoter and Carcinogen in Male F344/NCr Rats Masato Ohshima and Jerrold M. Ward. Cancer Research 46, 877-883, February 1, 1986

(13) http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/353/3/229
Benign Breast Disease and the Risk of Breast Cancer. Hartmann, Lynn C. N Engl J Med Volume 353;3:229-237 July 21, 2005

(14) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8221402
Ghent,W.R., Eskin,B.A., Low,D.A., Hill, L.P.. Iodine replacement in fibrocystic disease of the breast. Can J Surg 1993; 36:453-460.

(15) http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00237523?order=1
Clinical Trial for Iodine treatment of Fibrocystic Breast Disease
Study for Treatment of Moderate or Severe, Periodic, “Cyclic”, Breast Pain. This study is ongoing, but not recruiting participants. Sponsored by:  Symbollon Pharmaceuticals ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00237523

(16) Iodoral from Optimox

(17) FDA_Potassium_Iodide_Thyroid_Blocking_Agent_Radiation_Emergenciesl
Guidance on Potassium Iodide as a Thyroid Blocking Agent in Radiation Emergencies, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), December 2001

(18) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/5395878
Bernecker C. Acta Allergol. 1969 Sep;24(3):216-25. Intermittent therapy with potassium iodide in chronic obstructive disease of the airways. A review of 10 years’ experience.

(19) deleted

(20) George Flechas MD Web Site Iodine Information

(21) Iodoral on Amazon

(22) http://www.drdach.com/wst_page10.html
Hypothyroidism Jeffrey Dach MD web site

23) PDR Dosage for SSKI

2020

24) Manjer, Jonas, Malte Sandsveden, and Signe Borgquist. “Serum Iodine and Breast Cancer Risk: A Prospective Nested Case–Control Study Stratified for Selenium Levels.” Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention 29.7 (2020): 1335-1340.

Iodine has been suggested to protect against breast cancer, but there are no epidemiologic studies on individual risk. An interesting finding is that in areas where the exposure to both selenium and iodine are high (e.g., Japan), the risk of breast cancer is lower than in areas where selenium is high and iodine low (e.g., United States), or in areas where both are low (e.g., Northern Europe). The aim of this study was to investigate the association between prediagnostic serum iodine levels and subsequent breast cancer risk, and to investigate if this potential association was modified by selenium levels.

Methods: The Malmö Diet and Cancer Study provided prediagnostic serum samples and the current analysis included 1,159 breast cancer cases and 1,136 controls. Levels of baseline serum iodine and selenium were analyzed. A logistic regression analysis yielded ORs with 95% confidence intervals adjusted for potential confounders.

Results: There was no evidence of an overall association between iodine levels and risk of breast cancer. Among women with high selenium levels (above the median), high iodine levels were associated with a lower risk of breast cancer; the OR for above versus below the median was 0.75 (0.57-0.99). The corresponding OR for women with low selenium was 1.15 (0.87-1.50), and the P interaction was 0.06.

Conclusions: The combination of high serum iodine levels and high selenium levels was associated with a lower risk of breast cancer.

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selenium breast cancer

Szwiec, Marek, et al. “Serum selenium level predicts 10-year survival after breast cancer.” Nutrients 13.3 (2021): 953.

We now have updated the cohort to include 10-year survival rates. A blood sample was obtained from 538 women diagnosed with first primary invasive breast cancer between 2008 and 2015 in the region of Szczecin, Poland. Blood was collected before initiation of treatment. Serum selenium levels were quantified by mass spectroscopy. Each patient was assigned to one of four quartiles based on the distribution of serum selenium levels in the whole cohort. Patients were followed from diagnosis until death or last known alive (mean follow-up 7.9 years). The 10-year actuarial cumulative survival was 65.1% for women in the lowest quartile of serum selenium, compared to 86.7% for women in the highest quartile (p < 0.001 for difference). Further studies are needed to confirm the protective effect of selenium on breast cancer survival. If confirmed this may lead to an investigation of selenium supplementation on survival of breast cancer patients.

Lubinski, J., et al. “Serum selenium levels predict survival after breast cancer.” Breast cancer research and treatment 167.2 (2018): 591-598.

Harris, Holly R., Leif Bergkvist, and Alicja Wolk. Selenium intake and breast cancer mortality in a cohort of Swedish women .” Breast cancer research and treatment 134 (2012): 1269-1277.

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Iodine

Kurniawati, Yulia, et al. “Analysis of Urinary Iodine Concentration in Differentiated Thyroid Cancer and Breast Cancer Cases.” Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention: APJCP 25.6 (2024): 1869-1873.

In BC patients, regardless of subtypes, breast cancer subjects showed a significantly lower iodine excretion level. The median of UIC patients and controls were 80.05 ± 38.24 µg/L and 144.25 ± 36.79 µg/L, respectively, p=0.000.

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iodine treatment results in decreased ERα mRNA levels;

Poor, Alexander E., et al. “Urine Iodine, Estrogen, and Breast Disease.” Journal of Cancer Therapy 3 (2012): 1164-1169.

Few studies had described iodine’s mechanism of action or its target pathways. Recently researchers have suggested that iodine inhibits breast cancer growth via cyclin-independent apoptosis; however there is evidence that a different pathway is involved. We analyzed the effects of iodine on global gene expression in estrogen responsive MCF-7 breast cancer cell line. Microarray analysis and quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) indicated that iodine inhibits the expression of estrogen-responsive genes TFF1 and WISP2 [27].

Our data further provided three potential mechanisms to explain the observed decrease in estrogen response. First, iodine treatment results in decreased ERα mRNA levels; second, iodine up-regulates genes involved in estrogen metabolism (CYP1A1, CYP1B1, and AKR1C1), and finally, iodine decreases Cyclin D1 (a competitive inhibitor of BRCA1) mRNA levels which may functionally permit BRCA1 inhibition of estrogen responsive transcription. Thus the interaction between iodine and estrogen signaling may inhibit breast cancer growth by affecting an intermediate, perhaps the estrogen receptor system.

Sorrenti, Salvatore, et al. “Iodine: Its role in thyroid hormone biosynthesis and beyond.” Nutrients 13.12 (2021): 4469.

Rösner, Harald, et al. “Antiproliferative/cytotoxic effects of molecular iodine, povidone-iodine and Lugol’s solution in different human carcinoma cell lines.” Oncology letters 12.3 (2016): 2159-2162.

Materials The following human cell lines were used in the present study:
MCF-7 (breast carcinoma);  HS-24, H1299 and A549 (lung carcinoma);
Capan-2 and PaTu 8902 (pancreatic carcinoma), and the IPC-298 (melanoma) cell line,

Aceves, Carmen, et al. “Molecular iodine has extrathyroidal effects as an antioxidant, differentiator, and immunomodulator.” International journal of molecular sciences 22.3 (2021): 1228.

Moreover, recent reports have shown that antineoplastic effects of iodine or iodolipids are exerted on different types of cells that can take up I2 and exhibit apoptotic induction by PPAR agonists. Such cells include prostate, lung carcinoma, pancreas carcinoma, melanoma, glioblastoma, and neuroblastoma cells [79].

We propose that molecular iodine intake be increased in adults to at least 1 mg/day in specific pathologies to obtain the potential extrathyroidal benefits described in the present review.

Ibrahim, Raihan Syah, and Aisyah Elliyanti. “The Potential of Iodine as A Treatment for Breast Cancer: A Narrative Review.” Jurnal Kesehatan Manarang 9.3 (2023): 159-165.

Published Studies of the Effects of Iodine Administration on Breast Cancer

Mendieta, Irasema, et al. “Molecular iodine exerts antineoplastic effects by diminishing proliferation and invasive potential and activating the immune response in mammary cancer xenografts.” BMC cancer 19 (2019): 1-12.

The present work analyzed the effect of I2 in human breast cancer cell lines with low (MCF-7) and high (MDA-MB231) metastatic potential under both in vitro (cell proliferation and invasion assay) and in vivo (xenografts of athymic nude mice) conditions.
Results

In vitro analysis showed that the 200 μM I2 supplement decreases the proliferation rate in both cell lines and diminishes the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) profile and the invasive capacity in MDA-MB231. In immunosuppressed mice, the I2 supplement impairs implantation (incidence), tumoral growth, and proliferation of both types of cells. Xenografts of the animals treated with I2 decrease the expression of invasion markers like CD44, vimentin, urokinase plasminogen activator and its receptor, and vascular endothelial growth factor; and increase peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma. Moreover, in mice with xenografts, the I2 supplement increases the circulating level of leukocytes and the number of intratumoral infiltrating lymphocytes, some of them activated as CD8+, suggesting the activation of antitumor immune responses.
Conclusions: I2 decreases the invasive potential of a triple negative basal cancer cell line, and under in vivo conditions the oral supplement of this halogen activates the antitumor immune response, preventing progression of xenografts from laminal and basal mammary cancer cells. These effects allow us to propose iodine supplementation as a possible adjuvant in breast cancer therapy.
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Anguiano, Brenda, et al. “Protective effects of iodine on rat prostate inflammation induced by sex hormones and on the DU145 prostate cancer cell line treated with TNF.” Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology 572 (2023): 111957.

Mendieta, Irasema, et al. “Molecular iodine synergized and sensitized neuroblastoma cells to the antineoplastic effect of ATRA.” Endocrine-Related Cancer 27.12 (2020): 699-710.

Falkenberg, Torkel, et al. “Iodine loaded nanoparticles with commercial applicability increase survival in mice cancer models with low degree of side effects.” Cancer Reports 6.8 (2023): e1843.

The syngeneic colon cancer model cells (CT26), the xenograft breast cancer model cells and the orthotopic, syngeneic lung metastasis model cells (LL/2)…NO Anti Tumor Effect !!!

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Jeffrey Dach MD
7450 Griffin Road Suite 190
Davie, Florida 33314
954-792-4663

http://www.drdach.com/
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Last updated on September 8th, 2024 by Jeffrey Dach MD