By Sayer Ji
Contributing Writer for Wake Up World
Tragically, 1.4 million die from lung cancer each year, with 1.6 million newly diagnosed. Could the humble noni leaf extract offer a more effective cancer treatment than a drug that can cost over 100,000 dollars, and improves lung cancer survival rates by only a few months?
A promising new study published in the journal Food & Function titled, “Morinda citrifolia edible leaf extract enhanced immune response against lung cancer,” has found that an alcohol-based leaf extract of the noni tree (Morinda Citrifolia) was more effective than a commonly used chemotherapy drug in treating lung cancer in an animal model.
In the new study, a team of Malaysian researchers tested the relative effectiveness of the drug erlotinib (trade name Tarceva), a so-called epidemal growth factor receptor inhibitor (EGFR inhibitor), to a noni leaf extract, in lung tumor-induced albino house mice (BALB/c), and found that 21 days of treatment with a 300 mg kg-1 body weight of leaf extract was more effective suppressing lung tumour growth than a 50 mg kg-1 body weight erlotinib treatment.
