Eating a diet packed with fruits and vegetables may help women with a virulent form of breast cancer fight back against the disease, new research suggests.

The study, led by investigators with the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, found that such diets may starve tumor cells, which are fueled by an essential nutrient called methionine.

The amino acid is abundant in meat, fish, some legumes and nuts, but low in fruits and vegetables, the researchers noted.

Consequently, a largely vegan diet may help stop the growth of tumors in patients with what is known as “triple-negative breast cancer” cells, the UW Carbone Cancer Center scientists reported in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.

Lead researcher Vincent Cryns said the study lays the foundation for a clinical trial to see if a low-methionine diet will help boost survival of breast cancer patients with triple-negative breast cancer. Such patients have limited treatment options because their tumor cells lack the three receptors — estrogen, progesterone and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) — commonly targeted in hormone or chemotherapy.

"We've shown that removing methionine can have a specific effect on a molecular pathway that regulates cell death to increase the vulnerability of cancer cells to treatments that target this pathway," Cryns said. "What's particularly exciting about our findings is that they suggest that a dietary intervention can increase the effectiveness of a targeted cancer therapy."