Flower power may help treat prostate cancer

Johannesburg, June 18 (ANI): A substance from the root of a flower may help treat prostate cancer, according to Germany's cancer-science council.

Experts at the University of Goettingen said that in laboratory tests, tectorigenin, obtained from roots of Belamcanda chinensis, stopped cancer cells growing and in animal tests it had slowed the spread of the cancer.

The lily-like flowers of Belamcanda chinensis are grown in temperate-region gardens as a perennial. In China, it grows wild.

The plant is used in Korean and Chinese medicine, reports 24.com.

Scientists Peter Burfeind and Paul Thelen will conduct further studies.

They say it might also be possible to use the substance as preventive medicine to stop men developing the cancer in the first place. (ANI)