Ginger May Kill Cancer Cells, Study Finds

Sharon Moore March 29, 2016

A study funded by the Indian government’s Woman Scientist Scheme looked at the effects of ginger compounds on breast cancer stem cells and found that ginger might hold the key to treatments that kill off cancer cells without doing harm to healthy tissues.

This amazing benefit was attributed to 6-shogal, a gingerol derivative which is found in dried ginger. Such compound has been studied in the past on other forms of cancer, but scientists wanted to see what sort of effects it would have on breast cancer stem cells, which play an important role in the development of this disease.

The findings also revealed that while gingerol was the most effective against cancer cells, it also did the least amount of damage to surrounding healthy tissues. This makes it superior to traditional methods of cancer treatment like chemotherapy which can do significant harm to non-cancerous cells and negatively impact a cancer survivor’s future quality of life.

In the study, cancer cells grown in the lab were exposed to extracts of 6-shogal. In comparison, stem cells were also exposed to curcumin derivatives (the active ingredient found in turmeric) and to Taxol, a common chemotherapy drug used in the treatment of breast cancer. What the researchers found was that of the three compounds, the action of 6-shogal was found to be the most effective for inhibiting cancer growth and inducing the death of cancer cells (called apotosis).

Ginger has long been used for its medicinal properties. It is even used in conjunction with chemotherapy not only in killing cancer cells but also in reducing the intensity of nausea and vomiting which are the usual side effects of chemo. The new research found that ginger caused the least amount of damage to healthy cells as compared to the traditional drug treatment.

Nonetheless, the researchers note that ginger supplementation should not be used as a substitute for current cancer treatment and that patients should discuss it with their GP or oncologist.

Still, the new findings offer hope that new anti-cancer treatments can be developed that are both more effective against tumours and less damaging to healthy cells than what is currently available.

Source of this article:

Ginger Is Effective In Killing Cancer Cells, Study Finds