Researchers have enlisted scent leaf, cannabis,
bitter leaf, sausage tree, and pawpaw leaf in the
quest for effective treatment for cancers.
CHUKWUMA MUANYA writes.
IN recent times, more Nigerians are coming
down with different kinds of cancers. The
situation has been blamed on exposure to
chemicals, unhealthy lifestyles, and genetic
mutation.
However, this disease that is believed to cause at
least 13 per cent of all deaths worldwide has no
conventional cure, but palliatives. Some of the
known treatments such as chemotherapy and
radiotherapy have been shown to have serious
side effects.
But natural products have shown promise in
preventing, treating and managing cancers
without adverse side effects. Top on the list are
scent leaf (Ocimum gratissimum), bitter leaf
(Vernonia amygdalina), sausage plant (Kigelia
africana/pinnata), pawpaw/papaya (Carica
papaya), and cannabis/marijuana (Cannabis
sativa).
Commonly called scent leaf or tea bush, Ocimum
gratissimum is of the plant family Lamiaceae.
Ocimum gratissimum is a shrub commonly found
around village huts and in gardens. It is known
as efinrin ajase in Yoruba, ebavbokho in Bini, aai
doya ta gida in Hausa, nchuanwu in Igbo.
Chinese, United States, and Nigerian scientists
from Department of Biology Jackson State
University, Jackson and College of Chemistry &
Chemical Engineering, Guangxi Normal
University, Guilin, P.R. China have explored the
cancer-fighting potential of scent leaf extracts.
The study is titled: “ Potential Cancer-fighting
Ocimum gratissimum (OG) leaf extracts:
Increased Anti-proliferation Activity of Partially
Purified Fractions and their Spectral
Fingerprints” was published in Ethnicity &
Disease, Volume 20.
The researchers wrote: “In previous in-vitro
studies, we have shown that the aqueous
extracts of the medicinal herb Ocimum
gratissimum (Og) inhibit the proliferation of
several cancer cell lines, especially prostate
adenocarcinoma (PC-3) cells. Therefore, Og leaf
extracts may harbor novel cancer-fighting
compounds that need to be isolated, purified
and characterised.
“In this study, we investigated the anti-
proliferation activity of Og leaf extract on
prostate cancer (PC-3) cells in-vitro, because we
believe that Og leaf extract may contain novel
cancer-fighting compounds. Our results show
that aqueous Og leaf extract inhibits
proliferation of treated PC-3 cells in a
concentration dependent manner.”
Scientists have also found that the sausage tree
(Kigelia africana/pinnata) could be effectively
used to treat cancers.
According to ethnobotany and recent scientific
work of Professor P. J. Houghton ?of the
Pharmacognosy Research Laboratories, ?
Department of Pharmacy, King’s College London,
“experiments into the effect of Kigelia extracts
and some of the pure compounds contained
therein, on micro-organisms and cancer cells
have shown that the traditional use of this plant
is given considerable justification. In addition,
there exists evidence for its anti-inflammatory
reputation.”
Investigation into the biological activity of
Kigelia pinnata has focussed on its antibacterial
activity and its cytotoxic effects against cancer
cell lines. These are related to the traditional
uses of bark and fruit extracts for treating
diseases caused by micro-organisms and as a
remedy for skin cancer.
Also, a Nigerian born Professor of Biology, Ernest
Izevbigie has patented a formula made from
bitter leaf (Vernonia amygdalina).
This bitter leaf-based formula is a proven anti-
diabetic and anti-cancer formula in laboratory
and clinical trials. This formula product can also
benefit HIV/AIDS patients. It has been
patented: U.S. Patent 6,713,098 in 2004 and the
second 6,848,604 in 2005.
Izevbigie said, “we found that in using the plant
material (from Vernonia amygdalina), some
compounds from the extracts were able to
inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells. Later
through collaborative research, we found they
were also effective in other tumor cells.”
Izevbigie explained that evidence from cell
culture and animal studies research and reports
from individuals reveal that bitter leaf formula
supplement may abate or improve the health
conditions or symptoms of Human Immuno-
deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune
Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients including
abrosia (wasting away), nausea and vomiting,
compromised immune systems etc. Bitter leaf
supplement-induced stimulation of the immune
system offers hope to many suffering with AIDS
related diseases.
The professor further explained that available
data shows that bitter leaf extracts might be
effective against herpes virus, and against Kaposi
sarcomas (KS), a tumour caused by Human
herpes virus 8 (HHV8).
Some of the principal chemical compounds
found in the bitter leaf herb are known as
steroid glycosides – type vernonioside B1. These
compounds possess potent anti-parasitic, anti-
tumor, anti-inflammatory, and anti-bacterial
effects.
Also, researchers have found that pawpaw leaf
extract and its tea have dramatic cancer-fighting
properties against a broad range of tumors,
backing a belief held in a number of folk
traditions.
University of Florida, United States researcher
Nam Dang and colleagues in Japan, in a report
published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology,
documented pawpaw anticancer effect against
tumors of the cervix, breast, liver, lung and
pancreas.
The researchers used an extract made from dried
pawpaw leaves, and the effects were stronger
when cells received larger doses of pawpaw leaf
tea.
Dang and the other scientists showed that
pawpaw leaf extract boosts the production of key
signaling molecules called Th1-type cytokines,
which help regulate the immune system.
This could lead to therapeutic treatments that
use the immune system to fight cancers, they
said in the February issue of the journal and
released Tuesday by the university.? Papaya or
Pawpaw has been used as a folk remedy for a
variety of ailments in many parts of the world,
especially Asia.
Deng said the results are consistent with reports
from indigenous populations in Australia and his
native Vietnam. The researchers said pawpaw
extract did not have any toxic effects on normal
cells, avoiding a common side effect of many
cancer treatments.
Researchers exposed 10 different types of cancer
cell cultures to four strengths of papaya/pawpaw
leaf extract and measured the effect after 24
hours. Papaya slowed the growth of tumors in all
the cultures. Dang and a colleague have applied
to patent the process to distill the papaya
extract through the University of Tokyo.
Also, cannabis has shown promise as an effective
remedy for cancers. According to a study
conducted by researchers from the Complutense
University in Madrid, Spain, and published in
the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the active
ingredient in marijuana appears to target
cancerous brain cells for destruction while
leaving healthy cells alone.
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Researchers first conducted an experiment in
mice that had been engineered to carry three
different grafts of human brain cancer. They
injected the mice daily with the molecule
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) near the site of the
tumors once each day. The chemical appeared to
stimulate the cancerous cells to engage in a
process known as autophagy, in which cells
initiate their own breakdown.
Leader of the team of researchers, Guillermo
Velasco, said, “these results may help to design
new cancer therapies based on the use of
medicines containing the active principle of
marijuana and/or in the activation of
autophagy.”
THC belongs to a class of chemicals known as
cannabinoids, named after the cannabis
(marijuana) plant in which they occur. It is the
chemical responsible for the psychoactive effects
of marijuana consumption.
The findings add to mixed evidence about the
effects of marijuana on human health. Studies
have suggested the drug can raise a person’s
risk of heart attack or stroke and cause cancer.
Other research has shown benefits, such as
staving off Alzheimer’s, and many doctors view
THC as a valuable way to treat weight loss
associated with AIDS, and nausea and vomiting
associated with chemotherapy in cancer
patients.
Velasco and his team’s study included an
analysis of two tumours from two people with a
highly aggressive brain cancer, which showed
signs of autophagy after receiving THC.
The researchers said the findings could pave the
way for cannabinoid-based drugs to treat cancer,
although that approach has so proved
unsuccessful when it comes to obesity.
The active compound in marijuana, THC, can
slow the growth of lung tumours and reduce the
spread of the cancer in mice, a preliminary study
reveals.
Human lung cancer tumours grew less than half
as fast in mice that received moderate doses of
the compound, the researchers reveal. They
hope that drugs mimicking the apparent anti-
cancer effects of THC could one day help treat
patients. The team strongly discourages people
from self-medicating by smoking marijuana,
noting that doing so could potentially encourage
tumour growth.
U.S. scientists led by Dr. Sean McAllister have
said that a compound found in cannabis may
stop breast cancer spreading throughout the
body. The research team from the California
Pacific Medical Center Research Institute is
upbeat that cannabidiol or CBD could be a non-
toxic alternative to chemotherapy.
There more than 400 active chemicals in
cannabis. CBD is one of those major chemical
compounds with active healing properties found
in cannabis. The other major compound is
known as THC. CBD is an anti inflammatory that
restores the normal homeostatic balance of the
human cells.
It has been reported for several years now that
CBD offers the hope of a non-toxic therapy that
could achieve the same results without any of
the painful side effects. This latest research
appears to prove another solid confirmation of
this age-old claim.
CBD works by blocking the activity of a gene
called Id-1, which is believed to be responsible
for the aggressive spread of cancer cells away
from the original tumour site – a process called
metastasis.
Past work has shown CBD can block a range of
aggressive cancers including human brain
cancers. This latest study found CBD appeared to
have a similar effect on breast cancer cells in
the lab.
Several cancer drugs based on plant chemicals
are already used widely, such as vincristine –
which is derived from a type of flower called
Madagascar Periwinkle and is used to treat
breast and lung cancer. It will be interesting to
see whether those, who have banned and
demonised cannabis, will permit CBD to be used
to heal women with breast cancers.
Following the growing interest in medical
benefits of cannabis, a new study finds that the
compound can help fight prostate cancer.
According to the study published in the British
Journal of Cancer, chemicals found in cannabis
can stop prostate cancer cells from growing in
the laboratory.
Its active chemicals known as cannabinoids —
methanandamide and JWH-015 — are also
reported to be effective in reducing the size of
the tumor in mice.
The compound is believed to block CB2 receptors
on the surface of the cancerous tissue,
preventing the division and growth of the tumor
cells. It is reported to be more effective in
treating aggressive prostate cancer cell types,
which do not respond to existing hormone
treatments.
Scientists hope that cannabis-based medicines
could help fight prostate cancer in the near
future. They, however, stressed that an
individual should not start smoking cannabis
with the aim of fighting the disease, as its use is
associated with psychotropic effects.