Researchers of a new study found that a mixture combining six natural components of plants can kill cancer cells.
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. According to the American Cancer Society, 1,660,290 new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in 2013 and approximately 580,350 Americans are projected to die of cancer this year, accounting for almost 1,600 cancer deaths a day.
Scientists have been working day and night to find a cure for this fatal disease and the findings of a new study provide them with fresh hope. A super cocktail of six natural compounds found in vegetables, fruits, spices and plant roots were effective in killing 100% of sample breast cancer cells without toxic side effects on normal cells, according to a press statement.
"One of the primary causes of both the recurrence of breast cancer and deaths is a small group of cancer stem cells that evade therapy," Madhwa Raj, PhD, Research Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology at LSU Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, said in a press statement. "These often multi-drug-resistant cells have the ability to generate new tumors, so it is critically important to develop new approaches to more effective and safer treatment or prevention of breast cancer."
For the study, researchers first tested ten known protective chemical nutrients found in foods like broccoli, grapes, apples, tofu, and turmeric root and finally settled for six compounds - Curcumin known as tumeric, Isoflavone from soybeans, Indo-3-Carbinol from cruciferous plants, C-phycocyanin from spirulina, Reservatrol from grapes, and Quercetin, a flavonoid present in fruits, vegetables and oils. Each compound was tested both individually and as a combination. While the compounds appeared to be ineffective when tested individually, when combined they suppressed breast cancer cell growth by more than 80%, inhibited migration and invasion, caused cell cycle arrest, and triggered the process leading to cell death resulting in the death of 100% of the breast cancer cells in the sample.
Moreover, the super cocktail of all the six compounds didn't have any harmful effect on other normal cells. The cocktail was not tested against BRCA1 and BRAC2. Further analysis also identified several key genes, which could serve as markers to follow the progress of therapy.
