Daffodil compound fights brain cancer

Wednesday, November 03, 2010 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: carciclasine, brain cancer, health news

(NaturalNews) Daffodils are a beautiful addition to any home garden, but new research shows they just might make an even better addition to the arsenal of natural cancer treatments. According to a new study published in the FASEB Journal, a compound in daffodils known as narciclasine is a powerful fighter against brain cancers.

Narciclasine is found in the bulbs of daffodils. And according to a report from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), ancient Greek physicians used to use narciclasine as a cancer treatment, cultivating a certain type of daffodil that contained high levels of the compound.

"Scientists have been digging in odd corners to find effective treatments for brain cancer for decades, and now they've found one in daffodils," explained Gerald Weissman, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the FASEB Journal. "It doesn't mean that you should eat daisies or daffodils for what ails you, but that modern medicinal chemistry can pluck new chemicals from stuff that grows in the garden."

Dr. Robert Kiss and his colleagues from the Laboratory of Toxicology at the Institute of Pharmacy at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles in Brussels, Belgium, observed that when narciclasine was injected in the brains of mice with brain cancer, the compound visibly targeted the cancer cells and prevented them from multiplying and spreading. Narciclasine-treated mice ended up living a lot longer than untreated mice.

The team hopes the compound will soon be used to treat human brain cancers, including gliomas and metastases. Kiss explained that he and his team are planning to conduct a clinical trial on a derivative of narciclasine, which could make it ready for use within three to four years.

Though the study focuses on a chemical derivative of narciclasine, it is likely that the compound in its whole form provides the same therapeutic benefits.

Editor's Note: NaturalNews is strongly against the use of all forms of animal testing. We fully support the implementation of humane medical experimentation that promotes the health and well-being of all living creatures.

Sources for this story include:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC...