Herbal Extract Can Destroy Pancreatic Cancer Cells
Herbal Medicine that is used in non-western medicine may have some promise in compounds to treat many diseases. A new study by Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Kimmel Cancer center has identified a compound that appears to have value as an anticancer drug against pancreatic cancer cells. The compound thymoquinone is a derivative of Nigella Sativa seeds which has been used in the middle east as a medication.
The effects on the pancreatic cancer cells was studied in vitro and appeared to act as an epigenetic regulator of gene function. Epigenetic regulation of genes is a concept that uses compounds which change gene activity in an attempt to turn off cancer gene activity and slow the growth of tumors. By turning off genes that are out of control in cancer cells, the growth of tumors can be slowed or stopped. This latest research suggests that thymoquinone from the Nigella Sativa seed may be a potential treatment for patients who have gone through surgery and chemotherapy as well as for individuals who are at a increased risk of developing cancer. Adding thymoquinone destroyed 80 percent of the pancreatic cancer cells. Researchers also showed that thymoquinone caused programmed cell death in the cancer cells
Thymoquinone treated pancreatic cancer cells had reduced production and activity of enzymes called histone deacetylases (HDACs), which remove the acetyl groups from the histone proteins, halting the gene transcription process. HDAC inhibitors are a “hot” new class of drugs that interfere with the function of histone deacetylases–these drugs show a great promise for cancer treatment and should be less toxic to normal cells than traditional chemotherapy. HDAC inhibitors are also being studied as a treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. The discovery that thymoquinone acts as an HDAC inhibitors very remarkable and really exciting according to Dr Hwyda Arafat, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University
Pancreatic cancer, the 4th leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S.. It takes some 34,000 lives annually. It can be difficult to treat because it is often not detected until it has spread to adjacent structures.
ref: http://www.jefferson.edu/news/index.cfm?artid=/news/2007/article16250.html
