Scientists from the Université de Montréal have found that a small fruit from the Amazon rainforest might help make cancer treatment work better.
This fruit is called camu-camu. People have known about its health benefits for a while, especially for helping with obesity and diabetes. Now, it might also help people fight cancer.
The camu-camu berry is tiny but full of healthy nutrients. It contains a natural compound called castalagin. This is part of a group of plant substances known as polyphenols. Polyphenols are good for your body because they fight inflammation and protect cells from damage.
What makes castalagin special is that it works like a prebiotic. This means it helps grow healthy bacteria in your gut. Having a healthy gut is important because it supports the immune system. In the new study, scientists found that castalagin can help the body respond better to a type of cancer treatment called immunotherapy.
Immunotherapy is a way to treat cancer by helping the immune system find and destroy cancer cells. One powerful kind of immunotherapy is called immune checkpoint inhibitors, or ICIs. These treatments have helped some patients, especially those with hard-to-treat cancers like melanoma and lung cancer. In some cases, they even act like a cure.
However, not everyone responds well to ICIs. Only a small number of patients get the full benefit. Researchers believe that the gut microbiome—the mix of bacteria in our digestive system—plays a big role. If the gut is unhealthy, the treatment might not work as well.
That’s where castalagin comes in. When scientists gave it to mice, it changed the bacteria in their guts and helped their immune systems fight cancer. This is exciting because it suggests that castalagin could be taken as a supplement to help make immunotherapy work better.
The next step is to see if it works in humans. A clinical trial will soon begin with 45 patients who have either lung cancer or melanoma. The goal is to find out if castalagin can help these patients respond better to their cancer treatment.
Camu-camu berries grow in the Amazon rainforest and have been used for a long time in traditional medicine. They are very rich in vitamin C and other antioxidants, which protect the body from damage and disease.
While it’s still early, this study shows that natural compounds like castalagin might be useful in modern medicine. By improving gut health, castalagin could make cancer treatments stronger and more effective.
This discovery gives hope to people whose cancer hasn’t responded to regular treatments. It also shows how science and nature can work together to create better health solutions. The full study is published in the journal Cancer Discovery and adds to the exciting progress in cancer research.
If you care about cancer, please read studies that low-carb diet could increase overall cancer risk, and new way to increase the longevity of cancer survivors.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how to fight cancer with these anti-cancer superfoods, and results showing daily vitamin D3 supplementation may reduce cancer death risk.
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