Researchers have identified what triggers breast and prostate cancers.

Ercole Cavalieri and Eleanor Rogen of University of Nebraska Medical Centre, who conducted the research, said: "We have found the first step that starts a cell down the road to becoming a cancer cell."

"By blocking this first step from happening, we feel we can stop the development of breast and prostate cancer," they added in a release.

The researchers have discovered that certain estrogen derivates (metabolites) can react with DNA to cause damage that may initiate the start of breast and prostate cancer.

Estrogen can initiate cancer when natural protective mechanisms do not function properly in the body, which then allows estrogen metabolites to react with DNA.

Since both men and women have naturally occurring estrogen, the triggering mechanism for breast and prostate cancer is identical.

This research has been funded in part by nearly $40 million in direct funding from the National Cancer Institute and the US Defence Department.

Cavalieri and Rogan are the first cancer researchers to study the effects of Resveratrol on this process. New research establishes that to be effective additional compounds must be added for optimal effect.

The combination of naturally occurring preventative agents Resveratrol, N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine (NAC), Lipoic Acid and Melatonin greatly enhances the body’s natural protection mechanisms which, in turn, decrease the triggering mechanism involved in the formation of breast and prostate cancer cells, said the Nebraska release.