Rare Australian Berrys May Contain Possible Cancer Treatment

Temporary Poll

Gold!!!	100.0%	[ 13 ]
Total Votes:			[ 13 ]

[AliKat1988]

Wow! Something like this is actually science instead of pseudoscience for a change.

PBS NOVA

Scientists have destroyed cancerous tumors using a drug developed from the seeds of a berry found in the Australian rainforest.

The berry, the fruit of a tree called Fontain’s blushwood (Fontainea picrosperma), is found only in select locations in the rainforests that border the northeastern coast of Queensland. A company called Qbiotics isolated a compound from the seeds called EBC-46, which, when injected directly into melanoma models and other cancers in animals, eliminated most of the tumors.

Dr. Glen Boyle, being interviewed by Melissa Davey for The Guardian:

Quote:

“In preclinical trials we injected it into our models and within five minutes, you see a purpling of the area that looks like a bruise,” Boyle, from the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute said.

“About 24 hours later, the tumour area goes black, a couple of days later you see a scab, and at around the 1.5 week mark, the scab falls off, leaving clean skin with no tumour there. The speed certainly surprised me.”

In conjunction with Boyle and others from the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, they’ve come to believe that the manufactured drug—developed by the pharmaceutical company QBiotics—kills tumors by cutting off their blood supply. It’s already been administered by veterinarians on 300 cases of cancer in dogs, cats, and horses. While successful in treating primary sites, EBC-46 does not appear to work on metastatic tumors, which could limit its use.

While human trials have not yet begun, successful results could position the drug as an alternative to chemotherapy, an appealing prospect for patients who are too weak for traditional chemo drugs, such as the elderly.

[Ratttking]

Wow, that works astonishingly fast!

How did they discover this treatment? Did the berries have some use in Aboriginal medicine?

I'm confused by why they say using this drug would not be chemotherapy.

[AliKat1988]

Ratttking

Wow, that works astonishingly fast!

How did they discover this treatment? Did the berries have some use in Aboriginal medicine?

I'm confused by why they say using this drug would not be chemotherapy.

I don't think so-sounds more like a chance finding from animals not eating it.

They probably are defining chemotherapy narrowly, as chemo usually refers to the more physically draining process that works on metastasized tumors

[xXFurygeistXx]

I suddenly understand why he searched so hard for his berries.

[Ratttking]

xXFurygeistXx

I suddenly understand why he searched so hard for his berries.

Dafuq did I just watch?

[Unka Dave]

Ratttking

xXFurygeistXx

I suddenly understand why he searched so hard for his berries.

Dafuq did I just watch?

AAAAGGGGGHHHH!!! must kill strange man!

Having gotten that off my chest... Frickin' amazing! Terminates tumors in two weeks. Sounds like an advertising jingle... I wonder most about the dude wandering around the jungle looking for things to inject into tumors; if this pans out, he is a genius, not a nut staggering about, "testing" various plants and berries for "medicinal properties".

[AliKat1988]

Ratttking

xXFurygeistXx

I suddenly understand why he searched so hard for his berries.

Dafuq did I just watch?

I know I didn't reply to it because I was just too confused by the weird fellow