S.A. men with prostate cancer helping test cork-tree

[herbsandhelpers]

S.A. men with prostate cancer helping test cork-tree compound

SAN ANTONIO -- South Texas men are volunteering to help test a new treatment for prostate cancer. It’s a compound with its roots in nature.
John Fitzgerald is in the middle of 35 radiation treatments for prostate cancer. The 62-year-old San Antonian already had surgery to remove the diseased gland. Now, doctors are zapping away a recurrence. He knows it’s survivable, yet concerning.
 
“Yeah, but it’s still cancer,” Fitzgerald commented. “You know, there’s no way around it. It’s cancer.”
 
Scientists at the U.T. Health Science Center are studying a Chinese herbal medicine that may help prevent the recurrence and side effects of prostate cancer in men like Fitzgerald.
 
It’s a compound made from the bark of an East Asian cork tree, Phellodendron amurense. It’s sold in pill form as an anti-inflammatory. But early animal studies showed it shrunk tumors in mice.
 
“In the lab, chemically, we can synthesize, do modifications,” explained A. Pratap Kumar, Ph.D., a prostate cancer researcher and associate professor in the department of urology at UTHSC. “But nature is nature. You have unique things there which we don’t know.”
 
In the trial, half of the men will be given the cork tree compound before, during and after radiation. Half will get radiation alone.
 
Scientists want to see if combining Eastern and Western medicine will create fewer side effects and a better outcome.
 
“We are very excited and hopefully this will have some effect,” Kumar said.
 
The plant extract is inexpensive and seems to be non-toxic.
 
“If they could dig up something or find something, be it from the bark of a Chinese tree or what, I’d be all for it,” Fitzgerald added. “I think it’d be great.”
 
The Cancer Therapy & Research Center is funding the clinical trial. The first patients will be trying the capsules in combination with radiation beginning next week.

Source: kens5.com