wfn.org | Christian hospital unveils new, uniquely Taiwanese cancer treatment

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3039 Edition

>May 24~30, 2010

Christian hospital unveils new, uniquely Taiwanese cancer  treatment

>Reported by Lin Yi-ying

>Written by Lydia Ma

Antrodia cinnamomea, a unique fungus dubbed “Taiwan’s  ruby”

and found inside camphor trees, has been confirmed to

effectively kill leukemia and pancreatic cancer cells, reported

PCT-affiliated organization Mackay Memorial Hospital (MMH).

During a conference on May 19, MMH reported that its new drug

“Mackay No.1” (also known as MMH01), which is derived  from

extracts of Antrodia cinnamomea, had proven to be effective in

breaking down some types of cancer cells within 3 days.

The fungus had been an expensive folk remedy against cancer in

the past, but had never been scientifically tested until recently.

According to reports, a palm-size amount of Antrodia

>cinnamomea can cost up to NT$10,000.

MMH is currently working on patenting this drug in Taiwan and

United States and it also plans to conduct two years of animal

testing on MMH01. If all goes well, this new drug can potentially

become a treatment for some cancer patients in the future and a

>medical breakthrough.

Research on this drug began 6 years ago as a cooperative

project between researchers at MMH Radiation Oncology

department, Council of Agriculture, and National Research

Institute of Chinese Medicine. It involved extracting the fungus

from camphor trees and then experimenting with different

dosages to treat pancreatic cancer and acute myeloid leukemia.

Experiments with this drug revealed that when it was applied on

acute myeloid leukemia cells, it could contain 45% of cancer cells

on the first day and up to 97% by the third day. When applied on

pancreatic cancer cells, it could contain 18% on the first day and

>up to 65% by the third day.

According to MMH researchers, one of the strengths of MMH01 is

that it has no adverse effects on normal cells in the body. This

treatment will not destroy healthy cells or cause white blood  cells

to decrease, which is a serious side-effect normally associated

>with many cancer treatments.

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