Papaya Leaf extract Helps to Battle Cancers

The newest weapon in the war on cancer may be fruit-based.

Papaya leaf extract, and tea made from the extract, contain major cancer-fighting properties, according to new research. Papaya was able to slow the growth of tumors in the breast, lung, pancreas, cervix and liver, University of Florida researcher Nam Dang and his colleagues in Japan found.

Their report appeared in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, according to AFP.

The researchers found that the effects of the dried papaya leaf extract were stronger when the cancer cells exposed to it received larger doses of papaya leaf tea.

In many parts of the world, particularly in Asia, papaya has been regarded as a folk remedy for various ailments.

The new research demonstrates that papaya leaf extract increases the production of a certain type of molecule that helps regulate the body’s immune system. It could one day lead to treatments in which the immune system is used to battle cancers, Dang and the scientists said in the journal.

The papaya extract had no toxic effects on normal cells, as many conventional cancer treatments do. Dang and one of his colleagues are applying to patent a process that would allow them to distill papaya extract, reports AFP.