Dandelion root cuts colon tumor growth by more than 90%

New findings have put dandelion root extract (DRE) in the spotlight for possible application in cancer therapy. Having been well recognized for its anti-inflammatory and mood-improving properties, dandelion is now in the spotlight for having the property of selectively killing cancerous cells. Researchers have identified that aqueous DRE can initiate programmed cell death in colon cancer cells, without affecting healthy cells. These results could provide a new, more secure alternative to conventional chemotherapy.In the lab, DRE demonstrated robust activity against colon cancer cell lines. More than 95 percent of the cancer cells were eliminated in 48 hours of treatment, whether the cells had mutations in the p53 gene or not. This is significant because most cancers develop resistance to treatment because of modifications in p53. The extract seemed to circumvent that problem altogether. More encouragingly, normal colon cells were left largely intact.To see if DRE was effective outside of the lab, the researchers gave it to mice that had human colon tumors implanted in them. After 75 days of treatment orally, tumor growth slowed by over 90 percent. The key point was that the mice were not toxic. They did not lose weight and their urine did not contain elevated protein levels, which indicates that their kidneys were not affected. This corroborates the fact that DRE is effective and safe for application in living organisms.Subsequent experiments revealed that DRE also retards the migration ability of colon cancer cells. Migration of cancer cells is a pivotal stage in metastasis, where cancer spreads to distant regions of the body. In scratch wound healing assays, the untreated cancer cells rapidly migrated into the vacant space, whereas DRE-treated cells did not. On the other hand, normal cells treated with the extract migrated normally. This once again indicates the selective action of the extract on cancer cells.Researchers also investigated why DRE kills cancer cells. In their study, they found multiple pathways of cell death were activated. Both caspase-dependent and caspase-independent mechanisms were involved. Caspase-8, a protein that initiates apoptosis, was activated in cells treated with DRE. Surprisingly, inhibition of caspase-8 did not inhibit the cell death, suggesting other cell death pathways were also involved. This indicates that more than one pathway is initiated to kill the cancer cells by DRE.Phytochemical analysis showed the extract to be a combination of bioactive compounds. Some of the compounds present were α-amyrin, β-amyrin, lupeol and taraxasterol. Separately, they showed only moderate anti-cancer activity. But the complete extract was much stronger. This shows that the combination of compounds is more effective than any one of them individually. It also points to the need for the study of whole-plant extracts over the isolated molecule.Together, these findings indicate that dandelion root extract is a potential natural drug for colon cancer treatment. It can kill highly aggressive cancer cells, including those with frequent mutations, and has minimal to no toxicity toward non-cancerous cells. Given its potential to engage multiple death pathways and inhibit movement in tumor cells, DRE could be included in a future safe, multi-targeted cancer therapy. Additional clinical trials will be needed to validate these results in humans.