Catalytic Therapy Shows Promise as Cancer Treatment

Extracts of common herbs were introduced into cancer cell cultures followed by ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) and copper sulfate (CuSO4). The result was the death of most of the cancer cells. This fascinating article discusses this new research: The same unstable molecules that may cause cells to turn cancerous can be harnessed to treat cancer, and researchers are finding that natural herbal pigments are an effective catalyst to produce these cancer-killing molecules, according to a study in Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. The treatment is called catalytic therapy (CT), and it exploits the same reactive oxygen species (ROS) that can damage DNA in normal cells to the point that they turn cancerous. “We use the same quality in cancer therapy, but in catalytic therapy ROS harm only cancer cells,” says lead study author Nadejda Rozanova, PhD, a researcher in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, Santa Cruz. “And it is because the concentration of catalytic therapy agents is much higher in cancer cells than in normal cells. There is no ROS production in normal cells with these concentrations of CT agents.” http://www.cancermonthly.com/iNP/view.asp?ID=232