Papaya leaf thwarts growth of cancer cells

GAINESVILLE, Fla., March 12 (UPI) -- U.S. and Japanese researchers say papaya leaf extract has had an anti-cancer effect in laboratory tests.

Dr. Nam Dang of the University of Florida and colleagues in Japan say "tea" made from the dried leaves of the papaya plant fights lab-grown tumors -- including cancers of the cervix, breast, liver, lung and pancreas.

Their newest study, published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, found papaya leaf extract also boosts the production of key signaling molecules -- Th1-type cytokines -- that regulate the immune system.

The findings suggest possible therapeutic uses not only against cancer but as an anti-inflammatory, Dang said.

"Based on what I have seen and heard in a clinical setting, nobody who takes this extract experiences demonstrable toxicity; it seems like you could take it for a long time -- as long as it is effective," Dang says in a statement.

Dang points out the plant has long been used medicinally in his native Viet Nam and among Australian indigenous populations.

Dang and a colleague are patenting the process to distill the papaya extract through the University of Tokyo.