Blood type diet

When the article says “protein,” read “lectin.”
-Ryan
Health - Reuters
Smelly Plant Could Offer Brain Cancer Treatment
Tue Oct 1, 1:51 PM ET
LONDON (Reuters Health) - A protein from a highly poisonous,
foul-smelling plant known as jimson weed could one day be used to help
fight a type of brain cancer called glioma, Japanese researchers
reported on Tuesday.
The protein, Datura stramonium agglutinin, or DSA, caused glioma cells
with cancerous characteristics to begin developing normally, or
differentiating, in lab studies, they report in the British Journal of
Cancer for October.
The differentiation DSA induced was irreversible, being sustained once
the protein was removed, the researchers report.

“DSA controls glioma cells as a result of glial differentiation rather
than actually killing cells,” said lead researcher Dr. Tasuku Sasaki,
from the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology. “Any drug based on
this concept would help patients suffering with tumors that are
difficult to remove such as gliomas.”
Glioma cells were also inhibited from growing and dividing out of
control, or proliferating, by the presence of DSA, Sasaki’s team reports.
“Taken together, these observations suggest that Datura stramonium
agglutinin may be useful as a new therapy for treating glioma without
side effects,” they write.
Professor John Double, head of the Cancer Research UK Unit at Bradford
University, said the discovery was exciting, but extremely preliminary.
“More needs to be done before we have enough evidence to commit to
trials. Potential treatment, based on DSA, for this form of brain cancer
is still a long way off.”
Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, Sir Paul Nurse, agreed, noting
“there is much work to be done on the journey from the laboratory bench
to the patient’s bedside.”
SOURCE: British Journal of Cancer 2002;87:918-923.

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