The cure for cancer is an answer that has been boggling the minds of scientists for years, yet it's an answer that seemed pretty obvious to an 8-year-old English girl.
Parents Michael Lisanti and Federica Sotgia, who are both cancer researchers, were talking about work over dinner one night when they decided to ask their daughter Camilla her opinion.
"She has heard us talk about cancer a lot and we thought it would be fun to ask her what she thought about cancer therapy," Lisanti told Mail Online. "We asked her how she would cure cancer and she said 'Mum and Dad, I would just use an antibiotic, like when I have a sore throat.'"
Lisanti, who has cancer himself, performed a little DIY experiment after dinner that night by rubbing an antibiotic cream on a small growth on his face, Mail Online reported. Shockingly, Lisanti's growth on his face disappeared.
The over-the-counter remedy worked because some antibiotics stop cell from making mitochondria, the tiny engine rooms that supply them with energy.
"This is a perfect example of why it is so important to continue to invest in scientific research. Sometimes there are answers to some of the biggest questions right in front of us but without ongoing commitment to the search for these answers, we'd never find them," Listanti said in a news release.
Some clinical trials using antibiotics were preformed in the past on advanced or treatment-resistant patients, which were intended to treat cancer-associated infections, but not cancer cells. The trials showed positive therapeutic effects in cancer patients, according to the release.
Listanti told Mail Online antibiotics could prove to be an inexpensive and safe one-size-fits-all treatment for cancer and he hopes to test his theory on people - including women with breast cancer.
The study was published in the journal Oncotarget and Camillia was listed as a co-author of the study with her parents for her contribution.
