Plant product may help prevent lung cancer

	Tweet

Treatment with deguelin, a chemical found in various plants, may help prevent lung cancer caused by cigarette smoking, the results of an animal study suggest.

Dr. Ho-Young Lee, from the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and colleagues treated three groups of mice with cancer-causing agents found in cigarette smoke for 8 weeks. One group was treated with deguelin at the same time, another was treated with deguelin afterward, and the third group received no deguelin. The animals were sacrificed and examined at week 20.

Animals in all three groups developed lung tumors, the researchers reports in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

However, giving deguelin at the same time as the cancer-causing chemicals led to a marked reduction in the number of tumors. Giving deguelin afterward also cut the number of tumors, but the difference was not significant from a statistical standpoint.

Although there are concerns that high doses of deguelin may be toxic to the heart, lungs, and nerves, the authors observed no major side effects with the doses used in their study.

These results, Lee’s team writes, “indicate that deguelin warrants consideration as a (preventive) agent for early-stage lung” cancer in human studies.

SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, November 16, 2005.

RELATED STORIES:
Early morning smokers have increased risk of lung and head and neck cancers   Mutation database helps personalized treatment of lung cancer   Lung cancer slowed by Pfizer drug   Bone drug zoledronic acid may help prevent spread of early lung cancer   New lung cancer drug shows dramatic results for shrinking tumors   Women often opt out of lung cancer studies   Eating a variety of fruit cuts lung cancer risk   Radiation Therapy Increases Survival in Certain Lung Cancer Patients   Early Detection Of Lung Cancer   Iron and calcium may up risk of lung cancer   Survey finds significant racial differences in lung cancer beliefs   Antibodies may point to early lung cancer   Simple blood test detects lung cancer before it’s too late   Blood Test for Lung Cancer May be Possible   Family risk for lung cancer stronger in blacks   Drug fights tumors in advanced lung cancer   Lack of Sunlight May Increase Lung Cancer Risk   Ovary removal may raise risk of lung cancer   Study finds hospitals of last resort deliver lower quality of lung cancer care   Red wine may ward off lung cancer: study   New Approach Uses a Common Virus to Combat Deadly Lung Cancer   Positive CT scan for lung cancer may resolve

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]