Triptolide Could Help Treat Pancreatic Cancer

Research conducted at the University of Minnesota Cancer Center has found that a natural compound helps break down treatment-resistant pancreatic cancer.

The compound, known as triptolide, is a toxic agent which has been used as a natural medicine in China for hundreds of years.

In the Minnesota study, Ashok Saluja, PhD, discovered triptolide had the ability to invade heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) which serves as a survival mechanism for cancer cells. Results of experiments with mice showed those who received triptolide experienced decreased cancer growth and significantly fewer invasions into the spleen, liver, kidney and small intestine.

Other reports have indicated triptolide may also be an effective therapy for breast cancer, bladder cancer, melanoma and stomach cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is usually well advanced when it is detected and difficult to treat. Approximately half of the 37,000 people diagnosed annually in the United States die within four months of discovering they have the disease.

Dr Saluja and his team hope to refine the compound so clinical trials on patients with cancer of the pancreas can begin.

Findings from the study are published in the October issue of Cancer Research, a journal from the American Association for Cancer Research.

Source: University of Minnesota Cancer Center News Releases

Tags: Selwyn M. Vickers MD; University of Minnesota Academic Health Center; William E Grizzle; University of Alabama, Birmingham; tripterygiuym wilfordii; Rajinda K Dawra, PhD; biochemistry

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Published by Lisa on Wednesday 24 October 2007 at 8:30 am - permalink
Filed under Bladder Cancer,Breast Cancer,Pancreatic Cancer,Podcasts,Skin Cancer,Stomach Cancer

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Triptolide Could Help Treat Pancreatic Cancer

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