WILD BERRY EXTRACT BOOSTER FOR PANCREATIC CANCER DRUG
A wild berry native to North America may
strengthen the effectiveness of a chemotherapy drug commonly used to treat
pancreatic cancer, reveals new research.
The team at King's College Hospital and University of Southampton
tested the effectiveness of the extract of chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) in
killing off cancer cells, probably by apoptosis (programmed cell death).
Chokeberry is a wild berry that grows on the eastern side of
North America in wetlands and swamp areas.
The berry is high in vitamins and antioxidants, including
various polyphenols - compounds that are believed to mop up the harmful
by-products of normal cell activity.
"The promising results suggest that these polyphenols have
great therapeutic potential not only for brain tumours but pancreatic cancer as
well," commented Harcharan Rooprai from the King's College Hospital
The researchers used a well-known line of
pancreatic cancer cells in the laboratory to treat with a combination of
gemcitabine drug and chokeberry extract.
The analysis indicated that 48 hours of chokeberry extract
treatment of pancreatic cancer cells induced cell death at 1 ug/ml.
The toxicity of chokeberry extract on normal blood vessel lining
cells was tested and found to have no effects up to the highest levels used (50
ug/ml).
It suggests that the cell death effect is happening in a way
other than through preventing new blood vessel formation (anti-angiogenesis), a
process that is important in cancer cell growth.
"These are very exciting results. This could change the way
we deal with hard to treat cancers in the future," said Bashir Lwaleed
from the University of Southampton.
"Adding nutraceuticals to chemotherapy cycles may improve
the effectiveness of conventional drugs, particularly in hard to treat cancers,
such as pancreatic cancer," researchers concluded.
The study was published online in the Journal of Clinical
Pathology.
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