Drug From Chinese ‘Thunder God Vine’ Slays Tumors in Mice

[nabraxas]

Oct 18,

A drug made from a plant known as “thunder god vine,” or lei gong teng, that has been used in traditional Chinese medicine, wiped out pancreatic tumors in mice, researchers said, and may soon be tested in humans.

Mice treated with the compound showed no signs of tumors after 40 days or after discontinuing the treatment, according to researchers at the University of Minnesota’s Masonic Cancer Center. The research, funded by the university and the National Institutes of Health. was published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Enlarge image

Cystic carcinoma pancreas. Photograph: MBq

“This drug is just unbelievably potent in killing tumor cells,” said Ashok Saluja, vice chairman of research at the center and the study’s leader, said in a telephone interview. “You could see that every day you looked at those mice, the tumor was decreasing and decreasing, and then just gone.”

The plant, also known as Tripterygium wilfordii, contains triptolide, which earlier studies have shown can cause cancer cells to die. In traditional Chinese medicine, the plant is used as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. While the researchers hope to start human trials in six months, Saluja said it’s still a long leap from mice to people.

“Does that mean it will definitely work in humans?” he said. “We can definitely not say that.”

The results pave the way for clinical trials in patients with pancreatic cancer, one of the most lethal malignancies, the researchers said in the study. About 44,000 new cases of the disease are diagnosed each year in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Only about 20 percent of patients survive a year after diagnosis, Saluja said.

Survival Odds

Even for patients diagnosed at the earliest stages of their cancer when the odds are better, only about 14 percent survive five years or longer, according to the American Cancer Society. The current treatment is Eli Lilly & Co.’s Gemzar (LLY), which sold $452 million last year. A generic version of the drug became available in 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“It adds six weeks -- it’s nothing,” Saluja said. “There’s definitely a need to discover and develop more strategies for pancreatic cancer.”

The researchers dubbed the drug Minnelide, a combination of Minnesota and triptolide. They developed a water soluble version that could be injected into mice, and in the future administered to patients intravenously.

Saluja and his group have formed a company, Minneamrita Therapeutics, which will attempt to take the drug into the first of three stages of human clinical trials that are generally required before U.S. regulatory approval. Saluja said the company has discussed the trials with the Food and Drug Administration.

http://www.bloomberg...rs-in-mice.html

[Bert&Ernie]

Sounds like a pretty interesting plant

I like the title of the thread too :

[Torsten]

I still have some triptolide from my own immune system experiments. happy to share, but it's not cheap ...

[SunChaser]

Posted in the wrong thread, apparently. Sorry

Edited October 23, 2012 by jabez

[whitewind]

http://www.expressionoftruth.com/2013/05/a-little-known-plant-with-truly-bizarre.html?m=1
Monday, 27 May 2013

Chinese Plant Compound Wipes out Cancer in 40 Days, Says New Research

A little-known plant with a truly bizarre name is now making headlines as a cancer killer, with the compound of the plant vanishing tumors in mice with pancreatic cancer. Known as the ‘thunder god vine’ or lei gong teng, the Chinese plant is actually integrated into Chinese medicine and has been used for ages in remedying a number of conditions including rheumatoid arthritis.

According to the new research out of the University of Minnesota’s Masonic Cancer Center, the thunder god plant compound led to no signs of tumors after a 40 day period — even after discontinuing the treatment. Published in the journal Science Translational Medicine and funded by the National Institutes of Health, even the scientists working on the project were stunned by the anti-cancer properties of the compound. Known to contain something known as triptolide, which has been identified as a cancer fighter in previous research, it is thought to be the key component that may be responsible for the anti-tumor capabilities.

Study leader and vice chairman of research at the Cancer Center explained to Bloomberg how he was blown away by the effects of the simple plant:

“This drug is just unbelievably potent in killing tumor cells,” he said. And just like with numerous other powerful substances like turmeric and ginger, mainstream science is still slowly confirming what many traditional practitioners have known for their entire lives. This is, of course, due to the fact that there is simply no money for major corporations in researching the healing powers of natural herbs and compounds such as the compound found in the thunder god vine. Turmeric and ginger, for example, have been found to be amazing anti-cancer substances that are virtually free compared to expensive and dangerous cancer drugs.

Nevertheless, the Big Pharma sponsored corporate scientists have managed to ignore these spices as much as possible. In fact, they have even been caught time and time again faking thousands of studies to fraudulently demonstrate the supposed value of pharmaceutical drugs pushed by major pharma juggernauts — many of which are later forced to pay millions in fines which only slightly stack up against their billions in profits.

Profits that are threatened by the many real studies that were performed by scientists examining the rejeuvenating power of cheap ingredients like turmeric, which has been found by peer-reviewed research available on PubMed to positively influence over 590 conditions.

While it is great news that this study is bringing the beneficial effects of inexpensive and near-free plant compounds to light, the bad news is that the individuals responsible for the research are actually looking to create a pharmaceutical drug from the essential component triptolide. A drug that will seek FDA approval and ultimately be patented, nutritionally ruined, and sold for exorbitant amounts of cash. Instead, just get your hands on some thunder god vine for yourself.

Sources :

• Natural Society

[Halcyon Daze]

This is incredible! Thanks for sharing

[Scarecrow]

loving the cinematic article title

Edited May 30, 2013 by Scarecrow

[botanika]

^{Sort of unrelated but the title reminded me of a Chinese tonic that is great for mosquito bites. It's called 'six god'. Not sure if you can get it in australia but its the best for instantly elleviating mozzie and other insect bites. I'll see if I can track down whats in it.}

[tedzr]

Can someone explain to me how there is " simply no money " in researching and bringing to market plant derived pharmaceuticals? I never understood that notion beyond the sick joke of 'it keeps people dependant on medicine instead of curing them.'

Is it not possible to patent a plant-derived pharmaceutical preparation in the same way that you would a lab-derived one? Is it not possible to charge ridiculous amounts of money for a fortified and clinically effective, FDA approved (or whatever) preparation of a natural herb? I guess Minneamrita Therapeutics hopes so.

[Zen Peddler]

Gaian - yes Pharm companies do try to patent natural occurring compounds. Didn't they try that with sceletium's SSRI constituents? Could be wrong but it rings a bell.

I was going to mention that Torsten has some info on this herb.

has been used/investigated for its potential to modulate immune system activity and perhaps effect autoimmune disorders. if I remember correctly it was called the thundergod vine because if you took to much you'd die after eight steps or some shit.

Edited June 9, 2013 by Zen Peddler BlueGreenie

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

Can somebody pm me a source to seed of this plant? Looked everywhere to no avail...

D00d