Scientists believe a plant used for centuries in Chinese medicine may offer a cure for the pancreatic cancer that afflicted Apple talisman Steve Jobs and many others worldwide each year.
Boffins from University of Minnesota’s Masonic Cancer Center have been testing Minnelide, a drug extracted from the lei gong ten or ‘thunder god vine’ (Tripterygium wilfordii) and presented their results in the Science Translational Medicine on Thursday. For those in the know, Minnelide is a water soluble form of triptolide, a diterpenoid.
When tested on mice it was found to be “highly effective in reducing pancreatic tumour growth” and “shows promise as a potent chemotherapeutic agent against pancreatic cancer”, according to the research.
“This drug is just unbelievably potent in killing tumor cells,” Ashok Saluja, vice chairman of research at the centre, told Bloomberg.
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/10/18/boffins_cure_pancreatic_cancer_chinese_medicine_thunder_god/
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