OCT 07, 2016

A Berry for Cancer Treatment?

WRITTEN BY: Brenda Kelley Kim

Imagine if a single injection of a substance could eliminate cancer tumors, some within days. That would be something extraordinary and it seems that some scientists in Australia are looking into just that. Berries from a tree grown in the Queensland rainforest are being hailed as the next great advance in the fight against cancer. Initial results in animals showed that the blush wood tree produced a berry in which certain molecules literally shrunk solid tumors.

The molecule, EBC46, is now being investigated in human clinical trials. Early results show that it's very effective against certain melanomas. Injected directly into solid tumors, it goes to work almost immediately. It seems to provoke an immune response. Once the body senses the EBC 46, it produces white blood cells that attack the tumors, shrinking them. In addition to melanomas, it's also been used in tumors of the head and neck and in breast cancer tumors.