Scientists say there is evidence that eating tomatoes, especially concentrated into tomato sauce, tomato soup and tomato juice, can help fight breast cancer. Previously, studies had suggested that eating tomatoes could reduce the risk of prostate cancer and heart disease in men. Now, a study partly funded by the Heinz Tomato Sauce company has specifically focused on breast cancer patients. It confirms a growing scientific view that lycopene, the natural pigment that makes tomatoes red, is a powerful antioxidant. Professor Venk Rao of the University of Toronto, Canada, said that population-based observations have helped establish the hypothesis that eating tomatoes can reduce the risk of cancer. Now, they are clinically testing lycopene on breast cancer patients. Professor Rao said their research showed that breast cancer patients apparently have much lower levels of lycopene in their blood than normal because they cannot absorb it. This in turn leads to high "oxidative stress," which is believed to cause cancer, heart disease and aging.