Johns Hopkins researchers are a step closer to an answer.
Aflatoxins are cancerous to the liver.
They re produced by a fungus that contaminates some very common foods, such as corn, peanuts, rice and soy. In China those foods are dietary staples, and aflatoxin contamination is a leading contributor to the liver cancer that claims 200-thousand lives each year. It may be impossible to completely remove aflatoxins from the diet. It seems to change how the liver metabolizes aflatoxins. Dr. Thomas Kensler led a study of how the drug works in more than 200 people.