The journal Anticancer Research carries news on the promising anti-cancer properties of an extract made from the leaves of the Ginkgo biloba tree. Georgetown University Medical Center researchers reported that treating mice with the extract both before and after implanting human breast tumors decreased expression of a cell receptor associated with invasive cancer. The growth of the breast tumors was slowed by an impressive 80 percent as long as the extract was used. The extract from the Ginkgo biloba tree is a popular herbal supplement, widely used in Asian medicine. It is said to enhance memory, and is currently being tested as a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease.
"It is very encouraging that Ginkgo biloba appeared to reduce the aggressiveness of these cancers, because it suggests that the leaves could be useful in some early stage diseases to prevent them from becoming invasive, or spreading," said the senior author of the study, Vassilios Papadopoulos. "But I must stress that this is a study in mice, and so we cannot say what anticancer effects, if any, Gingko biloba might offer humans," he cautioned. It also seems that the extract is only effective against certain types of cancer. The study found that in addition to one form of aggressive breast cancer (invasive estrogen-receptor negative), certain brain, colon, and prostate cancers also responded to treatment. While the extract did nothing to cancers that were not invasive, it significantly slowed the growth of aggressive cancer cells.
In the study, Papadopoulos used a non-commercial injectable form of Ginkgo biloba leaf extract. Papadopoulos now plans to examine the notion that a cancer diagnosis might increase production of stress steroids, and this may "push" a tumor to become invasive. He speculates that the Ginkgo biloba extract might work by "tamping down" this effect.
Source: Georgetown University Medical Center
