Cancer Discovery Found in the Middle of the Australian Rain Forest

[fred]

Saw this on the Aussie news channel yesterday..

Researchers at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute have tested a drug made from the seeds of a berry on the blushwood tree.



http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014...n-rain-forest/

[imagine]

that would be a massive health problem solved

[Michael Parnham]

Brilliant news, it's a welcome change from the rest of the world's news in this day and age!

[KeithD]

Until things like this appear in the proper medical journals, I pay no notice to them. What it will do is probably wipe the berry off the face of the earth as people buy it as a supplement.

[Terpe]

That sounds like it could be an extraordinary leap forward. Hopefully human trials can be fast tracked.
Good news

[Doc Alan]

With respect, this isn’t a potential cure for the world’s millions of cancer sufferers ( over 8 million deaths / year ) – just research workers earning a living.



There are already various drugs proven to directly kill tumour cells ; and/or cut off their blood supply ; and/or stimulate the immune system ( directly or indirectly ) in humans. Over a hundred drugs have been derived from plants for treatment of cancer and other illnesses.



There is unlikely ever to be a cure for all types ( 200 ), and many more subtypes, of cancer. Increasingly drugs used in treatment are not " random " chemotherapy ( whereby all rapidly dividing cells are killed ) but targeted to cancer cells unique for each patient.



The " blushwood tree berry compound " was injected into surface tumours of various animals. The main reason cancers kill is that they spread to other sites ( lung, liver, bone, brain ) in the body. It hasn’t even been tried in humans yet. Only in exceptional cases ( like ebola infection ) can human trials be " fast tracked " - it takes years to prove treatments work safely.



Cancer is an increasing problem, even if survival and cure rates are improving, partly because we’re living longer. But at least 2/5 could be prevented by not smoking, keeping active, with a healthy diet and avoiding obesity.


Prevention – more advanced in the UK compared to the Philippines - is more likely than cure. Vaccination ( for cervical cancer in UK and Philippines ; for liver cancer – hepatitis B vaccine – in the Philippines ) ; screening ; and early detection are the way forward.



If all cancer research was halted, research workers might sadly lose their jobs. However, actually applying what we already know would do much good. That involves people taking responsibility for their own lifestyles, in addition to the work done by healthcare workers.