Cancer hope of Chinese plant
A drug derived from a plant used in traditional Chinese medicine may help fight prostate cancer.
Celastrol, extracted from the “Thunder God Vine” Tripterygium wilfordii, is a potent anti-inflammatory agent and antioxidant.
The drug is known to suppress the activity of a protein called p23. New research shows that p23 independently plays a key role in the way prostate tumours are fuelled by the hormone testosterone.
The doctors reported that drugs that block p23 such as celastrol have shown early promise in treating several diseases, such as arthritis and asthma.