Lactoferrin is a protein that can be purified from milk or produced “recombinantly”. Human colostrum (“first milk”) has the highest concentration, followed by human milk, then cow milk. Lactoferrin is one of the components of the immune system of the body. It has antimicrobial properties and is part of the innate defense, mainly at mucoses. In particular, lactoferrin provides antibacterial activity to human infants.

Aside from its general roles in immune-modulation and infectious disease, this article summarizes possible potential for its use as a natural cancer therapy and for the treatment of anemia. Most of its notable properties ultimately stem from the fact that it is a chelator of iron.

Lactoferrin and Cancer

“It decreases the availability of iron in neoplastic cells, depriving them of an iron supply (Khan et al. 2001; Weinberg 2001).” (more info)

(Comment: Many cancer patients have anemia as well. Lactoferrin may be twice as desirable in these cases because of its usefulness in both conditions. Supplementing with iron to correct the anemia may perhaps encourage undue accumulation of iron in the area of the cancer. Lactoferrin may effectively protect against some of this.)

“Lf(+)-fed mice bearing either EL-4, Lewis lung carcinoma or B16 melanoma tumours completely rejected their tumours within 3 weeks following a single injection of either paclitaxel, doxorubicin, epirubicin or fluorouracil, whereas mice fed the control diet were resistant to chemotherapy. Lf(+) had to be fed to mice for more than 2 weeks prior to chemotherapy to be wholly effective in eradicating tumours from all mice, suggesting that it acts as a competence factor. It significantly reduced tumour vascularity and blood flow, and increased antitumour cytotoxicity, tumour apoptosis and the infiltration of tumours by leukocytes…In summary, bLf is a potent natural adjuvant and fortifying agent for augmenting cancer chemotherapy, but needs to be saturated with iron to be effective.” (more info)

(Comment: This study refers to “iron-saturated lactoferrin” which they denote as “Lf(+)”. This is not technically what you get in the store. Lactoferrin is believed to have better immuno-modulating effects when any bound iron that may naturally occur in it is removed. Because of this, most supplement companies that sell “lactoferrin” are actually selling what is called “apolactoferrin”, which means “lactoferrin that has been processed to remove all the iron”. “Apolactoferrin” may have between 4% and 12% “iron saturation” according to different sources. Unmodified lactoferrin may have a ballpark 5% to 40% iron-saturation according to different sources. “Iron-saturated lactoferrin” or “holo-lactoferrin” means there is close to 100% iron saturation. Not only does holo-lactoferrin have significant anticancer effect, but reducing blood flow might incidentally help anemia in cancer cases that are caused by bleeding tumors.)

There is only one commercially available source of holo-lactoferrin that I could find, and it is in a product called “Lactoferrin Gold 1.8″. This product contains 80% apo-lactoferrin and 20% holo-lactoferrin.

I am too cheap to purchase the study to see exactly how much holo-lactoferrin the mice had to be fed, so if you know please tell me.

“Liposomalization of lactoferrin enhanced its anti-tumoral effects on melanoma cells” (more info)

(Comment: This study used apolactoferrin, which is the common commercially available kind. This confirms that any type of lactoferrin may have anticancer effect. In this study, liposomes were believed to have protected the lactoferrin from degredation, as well as secure intracellular delivery. For a primer on what liposomes are, and why they might greatly improve the effectiveness of many supplements, read this article on liposomal ubiquinol. Right now the only commerically available way I know of to get liposomal lactoferrin is in a liposomal colostrum product. Colostrum has many ingredients, one of which is lactoferrin. The product I am speaking of contains roughly 1.5% lactoferrin by mass. If one were to consume a total of 4,000mg of colostrum powder a day (1 tsp twice a day), this would contribute about 60mg of liposomal lactoferrin to the body. However, depending on the process used to liposomally encapsulate a material, different size liposomes are produced. Liposomes beyond a certain size cannot be absorbed directly and must first release their contents in the digestive tract. In these cases, no liposomal lactoferrin would actually circulate systemically. I do not have any info on the size distrubution of the liposomes in the colostrum product mentioned above.)

Lactoferrin and Anemia

“A study published in July 2009 examined the effects of lactoferrin versus an iron supplement (ferrous sulfate) in a group of pregnant women with anemia. This is an especially sensitive population. The risk of digestive complications and the added importance of adherence to treatment is particularly important during this time. 100 expectant mothers participated in the study. Half received 100 mg of lactoferrin twice daily, while the remainder were given 520 mg of ferrous sulfate once a day (providing about 100 mg of actual iron). (4)
• After 30 days of treatment, both groups demonstrated similar increases in serum ferritin, hemoglobin and iron.
• However, the group receiving the ferrous sulfate reported significantly greater rates of abdominal pain and constipation.” (more info 1, more info 2)

(Comment: Aside from making the iron supplements you take more absorbable (which removes the side effects of iron supplements), lactoferrin also ensures you absorb more iron from natural sources in your food. This is presumably the reason why lactoferrin can effectively treat anemia in these women who weren’t even taking any iron supplements.) The product used in this study is called “Lattoglobina”. It has an iron saturation of 17%.

“That study followed 300 women and employed the same dosage of both iron and lactoferrin (520 mg daily vs. 100 mg twice daily). This 30 day trial actually found that lactoferrin outperformed ferrous sulfate by increasing values of hemoglobin and “total serum iron” to a greater extent. Once again, lactoferrin was superior in that it didn’t provoke adverse reactions.” (more info 1, more info 2)

(Comment: This study used 30% iron saturated lactoferrin, which is also not quite what you get in stores.)

According to Dr. Leo Galland, “The dietary supplement lactoferrin, a protein derived from milk, binds to iron and increases its absorption” (more info)

“Lactoferrin enhances iron absorption, and at the same time protects the body from the negative, oxidative effects of excess iron. It can decrease or eliminate the side effects of nausea and constipation caused by iron supplementation. Recent research suggests that lactoferrin may also have beneficial effects in regulating the immune system, as well as anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and viral, and antioxidant effects…

…It only takes about 20 mg of lactoferrin, taken with the iron, to reduce or eliminate the side effects.” (more info)

Miscellaneous Information on Lactoferrin

“Lactoferrin does not remove iron from the body itself, and over time degrades to release the iron back into the body.” (more info)

(Comment: These last two quotes are a little contradictory, and leaves it unclear whether lactoferrin has any potential use in the treatment of excess iron (called “hemochromatosis”). It could perhaps even be detrimental. There are however other natural options for iron overload, which will be a future topic on this site.)

“In human milk, lactoferrin is a major whey protein, with 6-8 g/l in colostrum and 2-4 g/l in the milk. Bovine colostrum and milk are much lower in lactoferrin content (~1 g/l and 0.2g/l for colostrum and milk respectively)… Lactoferrin is folded into two globular units, each capable of binding up to 1.4 mg iron/g of protein.” (more info)

(Comment: The amount of total iron that can possibly be bound to physiological doses of lactoferrin is insignificant with regards to the usual doses of iron prescribed in the treatment of anemia. This leads one to speculate that when iron is used very efficiently, the body may only require very small amounts in order to thrive. Perhaps under regular circumstances, the body may be quite inefficient in its utilization of iron.)

“That means a 20 gram scoop of high quality whey protein isolate provides about 100mg of lactoferrin. (more info)”

Overall Impressions

Regarding anemia, it seems a good idea to take lactoferrin supplements (most commercially available supplements are apolactoferrin) with iron. Between 20mg and 100mg with each dose of iron is probably appropriate. It is probably preferable to get lactoferrin that is not apolactoferrin, as some manufacturers do claim their supplement effectively treats excess iron (which is the opposite of what is wanted). Since information is conflicting on this point, it is best only to take apolactoferrin with meals and with iron supplements (which is what one would do anyway for anemia), and not on empty stomach. Unfortunately, most manufacturers do not specify whether their product has had the iron removed or not. I do know that at least Life Extension and Jarrow brands are apolactoferrin. So for anemia, perhaps avoid those two brands and any that specifically say “aplolactoferrin”, “low iron”, etc. At least that way you will have a chance at getting unaltered lactoferrin. It seems doubtful that apolactoferrin would end up posing any problem, seeing as how people are taking it for immune system benefits, and no one seems to be raising a cry that it caused them anemia by chelating iron out of their body. But if you do not like taking even that much of a gamble, a more expensive solution would be to take an undenatured whey protein supplement, with your food and iron. This will provide lactoferrin that has not been altered to remove iron. Another more expensive solution is to buy the brand name Lattoglobina which was used in one of the studies.

Regarding cancer, both iron-saturated and iron-free lactoferrin may have different anticancer effects. Taking lactoferrin with both iron saturations would be ideal, as one small part of a comprehensive cancer strategy. “Lactoferrin Gold 1.8″ with each meal can accomplish this. Also taking liposomal colostrum (preferably on empty stomach) will provide a source of liposomal lactoferrin (colostrum is a whole other topic, and it does have substantial research – actually much more so than just lactoferrin – regarding its role in cancer treatment). The lactoferrin in the colostrum is presumably unmodified. I wonder if liposomal lactoferrin could go further than helping to prevent iron accumulation in tumors, and perhaps even redistribute the currently existing iron stores thus moving some iron away from the cancer?

For those with both cancer and anemia, taking Lactoferrin Gold 1.8 with each meal and with any iron supplements one may be already taking appears best. Though colostrum incidentally treats anemia through other mechanisms as well (increases circulating stem cells), the benefit of the lactoferrin portion as it pertains to anemia may be significantly reduced due to the fact that the liposomes prevent the lactoferrin from interacting with food and iron supplements in the digestive tract.

Lactoferrin…potentially extremely useful in both cancer and anemia.

Disclaimer: This article contains opinion and is for informational purposes only. It is not to be interpreted as medical advice. If seeking medical advice, consult a licensed physician.