A constituent of a herbal tea may have a role to play in treating breast cancer, researchers say.
Professor Helen Griffith of Aston University in Birmingham, UK, looked at an extract from a plant common in Pakistan called Fagonia cretica. It is also known as Virgon’s Mantlem and widely used in herbal tea. It grows in dry areas of Pakistan, India, Africa and some parts of Europe.
Despite being used locally for breast cancer, it has not so far been investigated scientifically.
The Birmingham researchers carried out laboratory tests on the plant extract. They found that it destroys cancer cells while sparing healthy breast cells. It also avoids the dangerous side-effects of other cancer treatments, which include a drop in blood count and diarrhoea. Unlike chemotherapy it also preserves the hair.
"More research is needed to establish the role of the extract in cancer management and it now needs to be demonstrated that this extract is as effective in killing cancer cells inside the body as it is within laboratory," said Professor Griffith.
"The next steps are to identify which element of the plant is responsible for killing the cancer cells with a view to eventually begin trails with human cancer patients."
The study appeared in the journal PLoS One on Monday (August 27). The authors conclude: "Our findings indicate that Fagonia cretica aqueous extract contains potential anti-cancer agents acting either singly or in combination against breast cancer cell proliferation."
Commenting on the findings, Dr Caitlin Palframan of the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer said: "Some of the most important cancer-fighting drugs are originally derived from plants. We won’t know for quite some time whether drugs derived from this plant will be effective in treating breast cancer but we look forward to seeing any progress."
An Aqueous Extract of Fagonia cretica Induces DNA Damage, Cell Cycle Arrest and Apoptosis in Breast Cancer Cells via FOXO3a and p53 Expression. Lam, M., Carmichael, A. R. and Griffiths, H. R. PLoS ONE June 27 2012 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0040152
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