Papaya’s anticancer effect against a broad range of lab-grown tumors
Dr. Nam Dang of University of Florida and his colleagues in Japan have documented papaya’s dramatic anticancer effect against a broad range of lab-grown tumors, including cancers of the cervix, breast, liver, lung and pancreas. The researchers used an extract made from dried papaya leaves, and the anticancer effects were stronger when cells received larger doses of the tea.
Dang and his colleagues also documented for the first time that papaya leaf extract boosts the production of key signaling molecules called Th1-type cytokines that are very essential for the regulation of the immune system.
Researchers exposed 10 different types of cancer cell cultures to four strengths of papaya leaf extract and measured the effect after 24 hours. Papaya slowed the growth of tumors in all the cultures. The researchers also found that one of the mechanisms employed by the papaya extract, to check the growth of cancer cells, is inducing cell death.
The papaya extract did not have any toxic effects on normal cells. According to Dr. Dang the success of the papaya extract in acting on cancer without toxicity is consistent with reports from indigenous populations in Australia and his native Vietnam. Dr. Dang said, “Based on what I have seen and heard in a clinical setting, nobody who takes this extract experiences demonstrable toxicity; it seems like you could take it for a long time — as long as it is effective.”
Now along with Hendrik Luesch, a fellow UF Shands Cancer Center member, Dr. Dang wants to identify the specific compounds in the papaya extract active against the cancer cell lines.
Source: http://news.ufl.edu/2010/03/09/papaya-2/
March 10, 2010