Herbal Therapy

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Brief Description: The standard breast cancer therapies drastically compromise the homeostasis of normal cells, thus limiting their clinical effectiveness, and also have serious side effects. Cancer cells are also becoming increasingly resistant to conventional therapy. There is thus a renewed interest in traditional plant medicines for use in treating chronic weakening and life threatening conditions and diseases. Researchers at Stellenbosch University have developed a plant extract from an indigenous plant which has been shown to decrease tumour growth but with only limited cytotoxicity to normal breast epithelial cells. The extract is effective at inducing apoptosis, but it remains non-toxic in vivo, and results in similar inhibition of tumour growth compared with a Dox treatment group and prevented weight-loss in mice over the course of treatment. This extract may prove a novel phyto-therapy as an adjunct remedy with other commercial drugs to assist in reducing proliferation of tumours. Target Market: Phytochemical industry Health care industry Value Proposition/Benefits: The herbal remedy has potential to reduce proliferation of tumours but without the toxicity to normal cells associated with conventional cancer treatments. Unique Characteristics:  The plant extract is non-toxic in vivo compared to conventional cancer therapies. Technical Description: Plant leaves were collected, washed, dried and crushed. The extract was then obtained by solvent extraction. When mice were treated with the leaf extract, tumour cells were not only supressed but the treated mice also gained weight during the course of the treatment. Innovation Status: A South African provisional patent application (ZA 2014/06975) has been filed.