Inject the garlic -- cure the cancer

REHOVOT, Israel, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Israeli scientists have destroyed malignant tumors in mice using a chemical that occurs naturally in garlic, the Weizmann Institute reported Monday.

The key to the scientists' success lies in a unique, two-step system for delivering the cancer-wrecking chemical to the tumor cells.

Researchers at the Weizmann Institute's Biological Chemistry Department describe their technique in the December issue of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.

Allicin, the substance that gives garlic its distinctive aroma and flavor, is also a known toxic substance that can kill cancerous cells. It is composed of an enzyme, alliinase, and an inert chemical called alliin.

The scientists attached alliinase to an antibody that was "programmed" to be attracted to a gastric tumor's characteristic receptors. Then they injected that alliinase-antibody combination into a cancerous mouse.

Once the alliinase-antibody had settled on the tumors, the scientists alliin into the mouse. The combination of alliinase and alliin -- at the site of the tumor -- created the toxic allicin, which cured the mouse of its gastric tumors.