A substance that helps in the treatment of cancer was found in a creeper in the home garden – 2024-03-13 17:28:09

Collection in progress. A Chinese worker collects balsam vine (schisandra chinensis) berries at a farm in northwest China. Tao Ming

According to a recent study, the compound obtained from the berries of the balsam vine, which is used as a herb, could be useful in the treatment of colon cancer. The international research team included researchers from the universities of Portsmouth and Hong Kong and the University of Eastern Finland.

Experimental research was done with cell and animal models. The results were published in the journal ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science.

Colon cancer is the third most common cancer in the world. The World Health Organization WHO has predicted that it will become even more common, so that by 2040 there will already be 3.2 million new diagnoses and 1.6 million deaths caused by colon cancer annually.

New approaches to treatment are badly needed.

The balsam vine (Schisandra chinensis) used as a herb comes from northern China, the Russian Far East and Korea, and it also grows wild in Japan.

A polyphenolic compound called Schisandrin B contained in the berries of the balsam vine was found in a recently published study to significantly inhibit the growth of colon cancer. In previous studies, the same compound has been found to inhibit the activity of cancer cells in, for example, liver, breast and ovarian cancer, as well as stomach and bladder cancers.

Conventional cancer treatments are often accompanied by side or adverse effects that impair the patient’s quality of life. Cancers also cause a significant financial burden.

According to the researchers, the polyphenolic compound examined in the study might offer a new approach that would supplement the treatment of cancers safely and inexpensively. The results showed that it effectively affects cancer cells without significant harm to healthy cells. The effect was seen in different colon cancers depending on the degree of spread, and especially in advanced colon cancer.

– Other polyphenols have also been found to prevent the development and growth of cancer. Their strong antioxidant properties help prevent the spread of cancer cells, says the professor in the press release Hani El-Nezami from the University of Eastern Finland.

According to El-Nezami, Schisandrin B polyphenol appears based on research to have an effect on colon cancer as well as on other cancers studied.

– The study published now sheds light on the mechanisms of action of this compound at the molecular level and lays the foundation for further studies in which its suitability for the treatment of colon cancer patients can be determined.

Funding has been received from the Academy of Finland to continue the research.