Plant May Become Potent Drug for Cancer

Researchers in Italy have found a way to increase the concentration of the natural chemotherapeutic agent glucobrassicin in the leaves of the woad plant, so that it may become commercially viable to isolate and purify this potentially useful drug.

Woad (Isatis tinctoria), which is related to members of the cabbage family such as broccoli and cauliflower, has been used for thousands of years as a source of indigo dye. Additionally, it is rich in glucobrassicin, a compound released by the plant after injury to protect itself from insects and other pests. In humans, glucobrassicin has been shown to be effective in the treatment of breast cancer, probably through its ability to bind to and eliminate estrogen.

Investigators at the University of Bologna (Italy) reported in the August 14, 2006, online edition of the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture that artificial wounding of the leaves combined with fertilization of the plant increased the concentration of glucobrassicin by more than 30%. Cancer researchers are taking the potential for woad seriously. The group of drugs known as taxanes, for example, derived from yew, have been found to be a powerful form of chemotherapy and are now widely used in the treatment of ovarian and breast cancer.

First author Dr. Stefania Galletti, professor of experimental agriculture at the University of Bologna, said, "The crop cycle is very short since the treatment is performed on young plants, but it could be hypothetically repeated after the first collection of the newly formed leaves. The availability of glucobrassicin in good amounts and at low cost could finally permit studies to be performed in order to clarify the anti-cancer role of glucobrassicin-rich vegetables, like broccoli, in the human diet.”



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