American ginseng will be studied as possible treatment for cancer
Posted by DAAN on October 25, 2008 under Ginseng | 
The University of Chicago Medical School will study whether ginseng can fight cancer:
Researchers at the new center will apply scientific techniques to the study of herbal medicine. They will study the anti-tumor effects of different preparations of the herbs American ginseng, Panax quinquefolius, and notoginseng, Panax notoginseng, which are widely used but little-studied herbal therapies for a variety of ailments, including prevention and treatment of colon cancer.
“At least one-third of adults in the United States use some sort of dietary supplement and many of them take herbal remedies, such as ginseng, to supplement or substitute for conventional pharmacotherapy,” said center director Chun-Su Yuan, M.D., Ph.D., the Cyrus Tang Professor of anesthesia and critical care at the University of Chicago, “yet we know very little about how, when or even if these products are beneficial.”
Scientific investigation of herbs is “still in its infancy,” he said, lagging far behind current trends in biomedical research. “Considering their widespread use, the time has come to apply contemporary research principles and techniques to the study of botanical medications.”
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. If detected early, it can be successfully treated, but patients with advanced colon cancer have a poor prognosis.
