St Marys thistle extract shown to halt lung cancer progression in its tracks


Lung cancer is a devastating disease with a traditionally poor survival rate of less than ten percent after five years from diagnosis

New Research

There are a number of well documented triggers that cause tissue damage that eventually results in DNA damage, allowing lung cancer cells to develop and spread. In a recent scientific study researchers from the University of Colorado, USA published in the journal Molecular Carcinogenesis, August 2011, found that treatment with silibinin,

a major component of herbal medicine St Marys thistle, effectively treated wound development in lung cancer cells by halting the disease and preventing metastasis. Long known for its rejuvenating effects on the liver, St Marys thistle is now being researched as a viable therapy to help prevent and reverse the damage caused by years of cellular breakdown in lung tissue. St Marys thistle has been used for more than 2000 years to treat liver and gallbladder disorders.

Cells communicate with one another through a complex series of signals to achieve an end result, normally the creation of a protein or the completion of an enzymatic reaction. When this chain is broken as a result of poor diet or lifestyle choices that affect metabolic homeostasis, diseases such as cancer are allowed to develop and manifest in tissues throughout the body.

St Marys Thistle Halts the Inflammatory Chain Known to Promote Lung Cancer Progression

Pharmaceutical drugs frequently look to break these chain reactions in an unnatural way; it halts metabolic processes in the body commonly with potential side effects. COX2 and iNOS are two enzymes that are involved in a chain of actions that elicit an inflammatory response to wounds and infectious processes. If you were to cut yourself, inflammation at the local site is a desired response that will aid healing. Unfortunately, systemic inflammation caused by excess body weight and poor dietary choices is a serious problem underlying many chronic diseases including lung cancer.

Both COX2 and iNOS aid tumor growth when they remain in circulation as a response to chronic inflammation. Two transcription factors known as STAT1 and STAT3 allow the blueprint of DNA to bind with proteins that continue the signal cascade, eventually leading to the production of harmful COX2 and iNOS. Researchers found that when the chain is broken, tumor growth is halted and metastatic growth stops. They found that a derivative of St Marys thistle called silibinin was able to inhibit the upstream signals that lead to the expression of COX2 and iNOS and help prevent lung cancer.

Lead study authors concluded: "What we showed is that STAT1 and STAT3 may be promising therapeutic targets in the treatment of lung cancer... and that silibinin inhibits their activation as a plausible mechanism of its effectiveness against lung cancer

St Marys thistle represents another herbal medicine that provides a powerful effect to prevent and treat chronic diseases, especially those associated with liver function and chronic inflammation

For more information on St Marys Thistle contact the clinic on 0719142940



See Also

Milk Thistle May Reduce Chemo-Related Liver Damage

In Health,
Gabriel

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