Wasabi Fights Highly Lethal Pancreatic CancerSayer Ji A team of Taiwanese researchers studied the effects of a naturally occurring wasabi isolate, compound 6-(methylsulfinyl)hexyl isothiocyanate (6-MITC), and two of its synthetic derivatives (I7447 and I7557, respectively), on human pancreatic cancer cells. They used two pancreatic cell lines known as PANC-1 and BxPC-3, respectively, and measured their responses to the wasabi derived compounds using the following techniques: CSCs are a minority subpopulation of cells within tumors capable of limitless self-renewal (i.e. immortality), capable of differentiating into all the cell types that are found in a particular cancer sample, and which are conventional treatment resistant. While chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery often shrink (debulk) or ostensibly remove a tumor, below the threshold of diagnostic surveillance, or within the remaining post-intervention tumor, the cancer stem cell population can remain, and in the case of chemotherapy and radiation treatments may actually be enriched in number. This explains why many cancers post-treatment return with even more aggressive metastatic characteristics, despite the original impression of a relapse or treatment success as defined by the reduction of the tumor size. Given the monumental obstacle that CSCs represent vis--vis conventional treatments, CSC targeting therapies are needed more than ever, and can be appreciated for their superiority over conventional therapies which tend to selectively encourage CSC growth, or even convert non-tumorigenic cancer cells within a tumor into cancer stem cells or cancer cells with stem cell like properties. We recently featured a series of articles on this topic, including: Turmeric Extract Strikes To the Root Cause of Cancer, Research: Radiotherapy Causes Cancer, Blueberry Kills It, Broccoli Kills The Stem Cells That Make Cancers Immortal, Chemo and Radiation Can Make Cancer More Malignant,Are Cancer Stem Cells The Key To Discovering A Cure? The new study found that the two studied wasabi derived compounds (6-MITC and I7557) were capable of reducing the CSC population and reducing the expression of a key CSC signaling molecule known as SOX2, which is a transcription factor found in both undifferentiated embryonic stem cells and cancer stem cells and which is essential for self-renewal and the cells ability to differentiate into other cell types (i.e. pluripotency). The study also found that wasabi derived compounds exhibited the following anti-cancer effects: The authors concluded: In conclusion, Wasabi compound 6-MITC and its chemical derivative I7557 may possess bioactivity against human pancreatic cancer cells, including the CSC population. Notes: [i] Fryer RA, Galustian C, Dalgelish AG. Recent advances and developments in treatment strategies against pancreatic cancer. Current Clinical Pharmacology. 2009;4(2):102112. [PubMed] [ii] Kim MP, Fleming JB, Wang H, et al. ALDH activity selectively defines an enhanced tumor-initiating cell population relative to CD133 expression in human pancreatic adenocarcinoma. PLoS ONE. 2011;6(6)e20636 [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Ref list] This article first appeared at GreenMedInfo. Please visit to access their vast database of articles and the latest information in natural health. 