Alternative medicine: tree bark for cancer

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MunichIn traditional Chinese medicine, the Amur cork tree (Phellodendron amurense) has long been said to have healing powers. Scientists from Texas now confirm: The extract from the tree can greatly improve the therapy for some types of cancer.

In pancreatic cancer and prostate cancer, inflammatory processes cause scars to form (fibrosis). Due to the changed surface of the tumor, drugs can no longer penetrate the diseased tissue - they lose their effect. Inflammation triggers include two proteins called STAT3 and NF-κB.

Broken communication

In the laboratory, the researchers led by Pratap Kumar from the Health Science Center in San Antonio discovered that the extract interrupts the interaction between these two molecules: the inflammatory reaction did not occur in cell cultures that had been treated with the cork tree extract. Nexrutin is the name of the active ingredient from the tree bark that is responsible for it.

In a second experiment, the scientists administered cork oak extract to mice. The animals were genetically programmed to develop pancreatic cancer. In the rodents given Nexrutine, the researchers observed reduced scarring compared to a control group.

Clear path for cancer drugs

“There are probably other complex interactions between the cork tree extract and the tumor,” says Kumar. The sap of the tree could therefore possibly support the therapy against pancreatic cancer effectively. Another study with prostate cancer had already shown promising results. 24 test persons had benefited from treatment with Nexrutins.

Liver and kidney carcinomas, which can also develop fibrosis and resistance to cancer drugs, also offer further approaches for the active ingredient. So far, however, there are no studies that investigated the effect of cork tree extract on these forms of cancer. (away)

Source: Combined Targeting of STAT3 / NF-κB / COX-2 / EP4 for Effective Management of Pancreatic Cancer, Clinical Cancer Research, 2014

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