The compound luteolin—found in broccoli, celery, thyme and parsley—does what chemotherapy can’t: It can locate triple-negative cancer cells and stops them metastasizing or spreading. Triple-negative breast cancer cells are so called because they lack three receptors that chemotherapy drugs usually locate and latch onto, and so oncologists have to use very aggressive and toxic therapies to try to combat their spread. Researchers from the University of Missouri have found that luteolin does the job instead. Triple-negative cancer cases are the most lethal and they occur in about 20 percent of breast cancer cases.
