THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When they talk about cancer cure, most of us dawdle dreamily to the distant future when, perhaps, such a miracle could be possible. But what if someone were to say that cancer cure is right here, maybe in your garden. A researcher at Regional Cancer Centre, Biba V S, has identified two compounds present in custard apple or ‘atha chakka’ which, according to her, can effectively destroy cancer cells with little side effects.
The research has won Biba ‘Young Investigator Award’ at the International Conference on Biosciences held at Kumarakom recently. Earlier, the paper had bagged ‘Best Paper Award’ at Botanica 2012, a two-day international seminar held at SN College, Chempazhanthy.
Custard apple (scientific name: Annona squamosa) belongs to ‘annona’ genus. Cancer cure properties of various species in the genus have been explored, and debated.
A study published in the ‘Journal of Medicinal Chemistry’ in 1997 claimed that soursop (Annona muricata) compounds tested on breast cancer cells in the lab were far more effective than chemotherapy in destroying cancer cells.
However, there were no clinical trials to support the claim. Moreover, patients who consumed Graviola pills developed side effects including nerve changes. Several patients developed movement disorders similar to the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
Custard apple, however, is not Graviola. In the research, Biba extracted two compounds from the fruit, which had previously never been used. “The compounds were tested on human cell lines such as leukemia, breast cancer, lung cancer and nasopharyngeal cancer. Murine cells were also tested on. The compounds have been tested on mice for toxicity and efficacy for curing cancer. It caused no problem to the mice free of cancer. Moreover, in mice suffering from cancer, there was considerable reduction of cancer cells,” says Biba.
Biba conducted the study as a senior research fellow under Dr P Ramani at RCC. “In the next phase, the compounds can be developed into drugs. I am hoping that a pharmaceutical company will come forward for a tie-up. Or maybe I can continue the project if I manage to get the required funds,” says Biba.