Ironweed plant
HAWAI ‘ I PLANT FOR CANCER TREATMENT
JAMES TURKSON | MARCUS TIUS | LENG CHEE CHANG | DIANQING SUN | JOEL KAWAKAMI | YUAN CHEN | JANN SARKARIA
The National Cancer Institute awarded a fve-year $ 3 million grant to James Turkson , PhD , director of the Cancer Biology Program , to study how natural compounds in ironweed plant extract can be used to treat breast and brain cancers .
Ironweed plant extract used in study from Hawai ‘ i Island and Thailand
THE VAST NATURAL RESOURCES OF HAWAI ‘ I GIVE OUR RESEARCHERS A RARE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF UNIQUE AND SIGNIFICANT PROPORTIONS IN TREATING CANCER ,” SAID RANDALL HOLCOMBE , MD , MBA , UH CANCER CENTER DIRECTOR .
IT WOULD BE LIFE CHANGING FOR CANCER PATIENTS IF IRONWEED EXTRACT COULD HELP FIGHT AGGRESSIVE TYPES OF BREAST AND BRAIN CANCERS . SINCE THE COMPOUNDS ARE FOUND IN THE PLANT , THEY ARE LESS TOXIC THAN TRADITIONAL FORMS OF TREATMENT SUCH AS CHEMOTHERAPY WHEN DEVELOPED AS DRUGS ,” SAID TURKSON .
James Turkson
Turkson , along with collaborators , published a study showing that the natural compounds from the ironweed plant were effective in killing breast and brain cancer cells and blocked the development and growth of these cancers in the laboratory . In recognition of these preliminary fndings , the funds were granted to continue and expand the study .
Breast and Brain Cancer in Hawai ‘ i
An average of 125 women die from
On average 41 people in Hawai ‘ i breast cancer each year in Hawai ‘ i . die each year from brain cancer .
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