Indian Ayurvedic remedy, Triphala found to be anti-cancer

London, Apr 18 (UNI) Triphala, an ayurvedic remedy popularly used in India, has been found to have powerful anti-cancer properties, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute report.

Indian scientists have claimed for years that Triphala has value as a detoxifying and anti-cancer agent, but now researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute say they have shown that it can prevent or slow the growth of pancreatic cancer tumours implanted in mice.

Pancreatic cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death and is one of the most aggressive cancers.

The latest findings, presented to the annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research in Los Angeles yesterday, suggest some herbal preparations may have genuine anti-cancer action.

Mice grafted with human pancreatic tumours were fed one to two milligrams of Triphala for five days a week. By the end of the study, their tumours were half the size of those in a control group of mice fed saline (salt solution) only.

Sanjay Srivastava, an Assistant Professor in Pharmacology, who led the study, said, ''We discovered that Triphala fed orally to mice ... was an extremely effective inhibitor of the cancer process. Triphala triggered the cancerous cells to die off and significantly reduced the size of tumours without causing any side effects.'' Triphala was found to trigger the pancreatic cells to die through Apoptosis - the body's normal method of disposing of damaged or unwanted cells. Apoptosis is often disrupted in cancer cells with the result that they continue to replicate and grow, forming a tumour.

UNI