- An ancient native American treatment for cancer has been
shown to have a beneficial effect despite scepticism from the medical establishment.
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- Chaparral, an evergreen desert shrub, has long been used
by native Americans to treat cancer, colds, wounds, bronchitis, warts,
and ringworm.
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- But experts dismissed its worth, and warned it could
be dangerous.
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- Now researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina
have shown an extract may shrink some tumours.
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- Chaparral tea was widely used in the US as an alternative
anti-cancer agent from the late 1950s to the 1970s.
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- However, the American Cancer Society said there was no
proof that it was an effective treatment for cancer - or any other disease.
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- And the US Food and Drug Administration warned against
its use after research showed it could damage the liver and the kidneys.
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- However, initial results from the latest study show that
an extract of the shrub appears not only to be safe, but to have a positive
effect.
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- The researchers tested a refined extract taken from chaparral
called M4N.
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- They injected it into the tumours of eight patients with
advanced head and neck cancer that had not responded to other forms of
treatment.
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- The trial was primarily designed to test whether the
extract was safe. The results were encouraging - patients seemed to tolerate
it well, and there was no evidence of the serious liver damage previously
associated with chaparral use.
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- However, the study also produced some evidence that the
extract had begun to shrink the tumours.
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- The researchers now plan a larger study aimed at showing
whether the drug really does work.
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- Trials important
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- Henry Scowcroft, science information officer at Cancer
Research UK, said: "Chaparral does not have a good track record as
an anti-cancer treatment, but this finding is interesting and suggests
that the active ingredients of the plant should be investigated further.
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- "Plants are an extremely useful source of anticancer
drugs. For example the drugs vinblastine and vincristine from the periwinkle
plant are used to treat many different cancers.
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- "And Taxol, which is obtained from the bark of yew
trees, is used to treat ovarian and breast cancer.
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- "It is extremely important to test plant extracts
thoroughly before they are routinely used in people, to make sure they
have no harmful side effects.
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- "This is why clinical trials of the M4N chaparral
extract will be so important."
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- Head and neck cancer is usually treated with surgery
and radiation, although a few drugs have shown some promise.
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- But because patients usually do not realise they have
cancer until it has spread, it is very hard to treat.
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- © BBC MMIV
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3555566.stm
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