Latest news with #pancreatic cancer
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
The artificial sweetener that may actually be good for you... and it could even ward off deadliest cancer
The artificial sweetener Stevia may help prevent one of the world's deadliest cancers, a new study suggests. Researchers in Japan collected samples from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana, a plant native to tropical and subtropical South America. The plant is used to make the sugar substitute Stevia, which can be 50 to 300 times sweeter than sugar and has no calories. After fermenting the leaves with Lactobacillus plantarum — the same bacteria used in yogurt and fermented vegetables — the team found fermented Stevia proved effective at killing pancreatic cancer cells. Compared to non-fermented Stevia, fermented varieties (FSLE) destroyed more cells of pancreatic cancer, which kills eight in 10 Americans affected within five years. It also left healthy cells virtually untouched and neutralized free radicals, which cause harmful inflammation throughout the body. Artificial sweeteners like Stevia have long been under fire for being linked to health issues like strokes, heart disease and some forms of cancer. However, the science on sugar substitutes and alternatives is murky, while decades of research does show the harms of traditional sugar are much clearer. The researchers said the findings could eventually turn the tide for pancreatic cancer, which is on the rise and most often only detected after it has spread throughout the body. Narandalai Danshiitsoodol, study co-author and associate professor in the Department of Probiotic Science for Preventive Medicine at Hiroshima University, said: 'Globally, the incidence and mortality rates of pancreatic cancer continue to rise, with a five-year survival rate of less than 10 percent.' In the US, approximately 67,440 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year, and about 51,980 people die from it, according to the American Cancer Society. Pancreatic cancer is highly invasive and prone to metastasis, meaning it more commonly breaks away from the primary tumor and spreads throughout the body. It shows significant resistance to existing treatments, such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, thus the need for anti-cancer compounds was sought after in less conventional methods like medicinal plants. That's where Stevia and fermentation comes in. In the study, published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, researchers fermented Stevia leaf extract and compared it to unfermented extract. The technique is called microbial biotransformation, which has emerged as a valuable technique for improving the efficacy of natural plant extracts. It involves the use of microbial enzymes - bacteria and yeast, for example - to modify bioactive compounds and enhance their potency. Stevia turned out to be most potent when fermented for 72 hours, without oxygen, at 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) - the body's natural, healthy temperature. The team found Stevia killed pancreatic cancer (PANC-1) cells more efficiently than the non-fermented extract. At the same time, it barely touched healthy HEK-293 (healthy) cells, even at high doses. The extract also slowed cancer cell growth and made them lose shape, preventing them from sticking together and spreading. Additionally, fermented stevia proved to be a potent antioxidant. Cancer arises from oxidative stress, which damages cells and DNA. In lab tests the Stevia extract neutralized free radicals more effectively than non fermented varieties, eradicating 94 percent of them in one test. Fermentation likely created new compounds. The researchers suspect chlorogenic acid that is in the original stevia transformed into chlorogenic acid methyl ester (CAME), a more active form. The raw extract had none of this, by comparison. It's thought that CAME shut down cancer cells by blocking their cell cycle and making them commit apoptosis, molecular steps that lead to its death. Danshiitsoodol said: 'This microbial transformation was likely due to specific enzymes in the bacteria strain used.' The Hiroshima University team plans to study FSLE in mouse models next, which will help determine how well CAME works in a living system and identify safe, effective doses. Over time this could potentially lead to a natural and easy way to combat one of the world's deadliest cancers.
The Sun
3 days ago
- Health
- The Sun
Common sweetener in fizzy drinks and yoghurt ‘can kill off the deadliest cancer'
A COMMON sugar substitute used in fizzy drinks, yoghurts and gum could be used to combat one of the deadliest kinds of cancer. Researchers fermented the zero calorie sweetener and tested it against pancreatic cancer - finding that it killed off malignant cells but didn't harm healthy ones. 2 Stevia is a shrub-like herb used to sweeten drinks and desserts instead of sugar, which can also be bought as powder or tablets. Previous research has suggested that stevia leaf extracts could have potential "anticancer effects". But isolating specific substances within the herb that could help protect against cancer and using them has remained challenging. Researchers from Hiroshima University suggested fermenting stevia with bacteria can structurally change the extract and produce bioactive metabolites - compounds that can impact living organisms. Study author Masanori Sugiyama, a professor in the Department of Probiotic Science for Preventive Medicine, said fermentation - or "microbial bio-transformation" - could "enhance the pharmacological efficacy of natural plant extracts" like stevia. The team tested their theory out against pancreatic cancer cells. "Pancreatic cancer is a highly malignant tumour of the digestive system with a poor prognosis," co-author Prof Narandalai Danshiitsoodol said. "Globally, the incidence and mortality rates of pancreatic cancer continue to rise, with a five-year survival rate of less than 10 per cent. "The primary reason pancreatic cancer is considered one of the deadliest cancers is its subtle, insidious onset, with most patients being diagnosed at an advanced stage and missing the optimal treatment window. "Furthermore, pancreatic cancer is highly invasive and prone to metastasis, showing significant resistance to existing treatments such as surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, resulting in very limited therapeutic efficacy. The most common symptoms of pancreatic cancer - as patients share their stories "Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify new and effective anticancer compounds, particularly those derived from medicinal plants." Researchers used lactic acid bacteria to ferment stevia extracts. They isolated over 1200 strains from fruits, vegetables, flowers, and medicinal plants and evaluated their health benefits. They finally landed on Lactobacillus plantarum SN13T strain (FSLE) derived from banana leaves "to enhance the antioxidant and anticancer activities of stevia leaf extract through fermentation". They tested fermented and non-fermented stevia extracts against pancreatic cancer cells in lab dishes. Fermented stevia killed pancreatic cancer cells more efficiently than the non-fermented extract, the study published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences found. This suggested that "the fermentation process enhances the bioactivity of the [stevia] extract", Prof Sugiyama said. Researchers tested out different fermentation levels to see which was most effective against cancer cells. Lower concentrations didn't kill cancer cells immediately, but they slowed their growth. Healthy kidney cells were mostly unaffected by the stevia extracts. Researchers plan to study how fermented stevia affects cancer in mice next, to see how various dosages will work in living organisms. 'The present study has substantially enhanced our understanding of the mechanism of action of the Lactobacillus plantarum SN13T strain in the fermentation of herbal extracts, while also offering a valuable research perspective on the potential application of probiotics as natural anti-tumour agents,' Prof Danshiitsoodol said. In the UK, about 10,800 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year and 9,600 pass away from it, according to Cancer Research UK. It's the fifth most common cause of cancer death. Since the early 1990s, pancreatic cancer incidence rates have increased by 18 per cent in the UK. The disease is often diagnosed at a late stage because it frequently lacks noticeable symptoms in the early stages. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation can help extend patients' lives.
Medscape
14-07-2025
- Health
- Medscape
Metastases-Directed Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer
This transcript has been edited for clarity. Hello. I'm Dr Maurie Markman, from City of Hope. I'd like to discuss what I consider to be an absolutely fascinating paper, and one that I will say has very interesting results but raises many more questions than it answers. I think that was the intent of the authors. The paper is entitled, 'Addition of metastasis-directed therapy to systemic therapy for oligometastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (EXTEND): a multicenter, randomized phase 2 trial,' published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology . You might ask what metastasis-directed therapy in pancreatic cancer means. Have we really made much of an impact on pancreatic cancer? In fact, in my earlier years of training, if somebody came up with the idea, or suggested as part of a trial or treatment of an individual patient, that they would focus on metastases in pancreas cancer, you might say they're crazy, or you might say: 'Yeah, but they probably don't know anything about the disease and its natural history.' Now, fast forward several decades. Even with the recognized, modest advances in systemic therapy, what we see are tremendous, really remarkable advances in innovations in radiation therapy. Of course, this includes not only the use of radiation itself but also the imaging technology that is used to direct the radiation therapy. These advances have permitted asking the questions that are addressed in the current study. Again, this study is fascinating. They randomized a very small number. Again, it's a randomized phase 2 study. It's really more of a proof of principle here. They randomized 41 patients with five or fewer metastatic lesions — with oligometastatic disease, they could have numerous lesions — to undergo what they've described as comprehensive metastases-directed therapy. Most of this was external beam radiation therapy and stereotactic radiation therapy, but there were some localized radiation implants as well, plus chemotherapy. This was comprehensive metastases-directed therapy to each of these sites plus chemotherapy vs chemotherapy alone. What was shown in this trial? The progression-free survival (PFS) in the metastases-directed therapy group was 10.3 months vs 2.5 months in the group of patients who received chemotherapy only, with a hazard ratio of 0.43 and statistical significance. Remember, this was a very small study, but we see more than a tripling in the PFS. There was no difference in overall survival, which is not at all surprising because it was a very small sample size. Very importantly — and essential to doing this trial ethically — a crossover was permitted at the time of progression, meaning that if a patient received chemotherapy only and progressed, they could potentially get stereotactic radiation to sites of metastatic disease. They might have also benefited from that kind of strategy to the metastasis-[therapy] so that overall survival in the small population may not be different. Again, there was a tripling of the time to disease progression. Clearly, a larger study will be required to be more definitive. We would need more centers involved and maybe some modification in the study design in this trial because of any issues that the investigators may have identified. Of course, overall survival would be a fair endpoint to look at, but again, crossover would be essential, and that might influence an ultimate is a very valid endpoint. The only other point to mention is, with these results — and as I mentioned, advances in radiation and imaging — is it reasonable to potentially consider this type of approach for individual patients as a component of aggressive standard of care? Of course, this would be with very adequate informed consent from patients, because we don't know what the impact will be. With the limited morbidity associated with the radiation, for an individual patient with pancreatic cancer who has an adequate performance status and limited metastases, if we give them chemotherapy and also directed radiation, is it reasonable to consider that as an appropriate treatment option outside the setting of a clinical trial? I think this is a very valid question that needs to be addressed. In my opinion, the answer in some settings should be yes, but that needs to be discussed much more widely than simply in this randomized phase 2 trial. Thank you for your attention.
The Independent
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Eric Idle says he feels ‘lucky every single day' after surviving cancer
Actor and comedian Eric Idle has said he feels lucky 'every single day' after surviving pancreatic cancer. Idle, 82, revealed in 2022 that he had received an early diagnosis and been successfully treated for the illness. In a Letter To My Younger Self for the Big Issue, the Monty Python star said: 'I miss a lot of people. Great people like Mike Nichols. 'I will find myself thinking of a funny line and thinking, you must tell Mike that. Or Jonathan Miller. So many of my heroes have gone, like Robin Williams. I still kind of occasionally speak to Billy Connolly, but I really miss him. 'You've got to find other people, you know, because there are still other funny people you can have dinner with or play guitar with. 'I got lucky, because I had to, I survived pancreatic cancer. So I feel that since 2019 I've had a reprieve. So I don't know or care what people say about me, I'm lucky every single day.' Idle also reflected on some of the issues financing Monty Python's Life Of Brian, which saw the film's creators receive help from Beatles star George Harrison. He said: 'For a while we had no money. (Media impresario) Lew Grade read it and just went nuts. He said, we can't possibly make this. I went to America to find money. 'I had been talking to George Harrison who was a huge fan, and he said, 'I'll phone you in the morning, don't worry'. And I thought, well, nobody's got four and a half million dollars. 'But finally, when everybody turned us down, there was a call from him saying, 'I've got you the money'. 'He had mortgaged his house and his business and raised the cash and put it all on a Python film. The most extraordinary thing to do.' Idle, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and Sir Michael Palin fronted the ground-breaking sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus. A huge hit, 45 episodes were made between 1969 and 1974, as well as five films including 1975's The Holy Grail, on which hit musical Spamalot – written by Idle – is based. Read the full interview with Idle in the Big Issue, out now.
Daily Mail
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Rihanna holds a bouquet as she arrives in LA after her dad Ronald's funeral
Rihanna held on to a bouquet of flowers as she arrived in Los Angeles following the funeral of her father in their native Barbados, on Saturday. Ronald Fenty died from pancreatic cancer and accompanying complications on May 30 in Los Angeles. He was 70. The singer, 37, was accompanied by a family member or assistant carrying several bags. Rihanna and her father had a complex relationship, which included periods of both reconciliation and estrangement. In June, an insider exclusively told that the death of her dad has taken a heavy toll on the superstar (born Robyn Rihanna Fenty). 'Robyn has had a very difficult relationship with her father over the years but his death has hit her like a ton of bricks,' the source said. Rihanna is one of three children Ronald shared with his ex-wife Monica Braithwaite, whom he divorced in 2002. In addition to the Grammy winner, they also shared sons Rajad and Rorrey. He also had three other children from previous relationships: Kandy, Samantha, and Jamie. Ronald was laid to rest on Tuesday and a celebration of life was held at Garfield Sobers Gymnasium. Rather than black, Rihanna wore a long white dress to the service, which is a common practice in the island nation. The singer has not yet made a public statement about her father's passing. Prior to arriving in Barbados, Rihanna and her partner A$AP Rocky, 36, were on a working vacationing with their two children: RZA, three, and Riot, who is almost 2. The singer was also in Paris to promote her latest film, Smurfs, which opens in theaters on July 18.
