Papaya began to gain a prominent place in the Western medical world after a study proving the efficacy of the plant to ward off cancer. In many cultures, people have learned the benefits of fruits, leaves, until the sap of the plant to treat various diseases.
Researchers University of Florida, Nam Dang, and colleagues in Japan have documented the anticancer effect of papaya which is amazing against various tumor cells that developed in the laboratory, including cervical cancer, breast, liver, lung, and pancreas. The researchers used a similar extract prepared from dried papaya leaves. Papaya proven anticancer effect is much stronger when the cancer cells battered papaya leaf tea in an increasingly large doses.
In a paper published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 17 February, Dang and his research team also documented for the first time that the papaya extract increase the production of an important signal transmitter molecules called cytokines type Th1. Production of these proteins regulate the immune system, plus papaya antitumor effects against various types of cancer, is a treatment strategy that can be used in the immune system to fight cancer.
Papaya extract did not cause toxic effects on normal cells, in contrast to the consequences of other types of cancer therapies, which also mercilessly beat up a healthy cell. Dang, who is also professor of medicine and medical director of Shands Cancer Center Clinical Trials Office at the University of Florida, said the success of papaya extract in the fight against cancer without the toxic effect is consistent with reports from indigenous Australians and his hometown in Vietnam. “Based on what I have heard and seen, all the people who drink this extract showed no toxicity,” he said. “You can consume them in a long time as long as it effectively.”
Scientists apply 10 types of different cancer cell cultures with four kinds of papaya extract that has the power and measure the effect after 24 hours. Papaya reduce tumor growth rate in all cultures.
To identify the mechanism by papaya in inhibiting cancer cell growth in cell culture, the team Dang research focuses on one type of cell to T lymphoma. The results of their research showed that at least there is one mechanism that was launched by the extract of papaya can trigger cell death.
In a similar analysis, the team also investigated the effects of papaya extracts on the production of antitumor molecules, known as cytokines. In this research, papaya increased Th1 type cytokine production, which is important in regulating the immune system. Based on these reasons, the findings of this study increases the possibility of utilization of papaya extract components in conditions associated with immune system, such as inflammation, autoimmune diseases, and cancer in the future.
Bharat B. Aggarwal, a researcher at the Cancer Center M.D. Anderson, University of Texas at Houston, was so convinced of the restorative power of papaya, so he ate a serving of fruit every day. “We know that papaya has a lot of interesting compounds in it,” said Aggarwal, professor of experimental therapeutic department at the cancer center.
One element that is considered beneficial to health is papain, a special enzyme present only in papaya. Not only in the fruit, these enzymes are also present in papaya leaves. “The paper is not excessive,” he said. “This is a good start in identifying the components responsible for anticancer activity.”
Aggarwal expect success in the pawpaw extract reduced the growth of cancerous cells are not stalled limited experiments in the laboratory, but also tested in animals and humans. “I hope that Dr. Dang continue his research. We need people like him to develop that potential,” he said.
Dang and his team have filed a patent processing means for extracting papaya extract through the University of Tokyo. They plan further study to identify specific compounds in papaya extract that is active against cancer cells. Especially for that stage, Dang took Hendrik Luesch, a fellow member of the Shands Cancer Center, as well as professor of medical chemistry.
