The Herbal Remedy Which Kills Bladder Cancer Cells, Scientists Say

By Kyle J. Norton

Herbal Arctostaphylos uva-ursi may have a potential in the prevention and treatment of bladder cancer, some scientists suggested.

Bladder cancer is a medical and chronic condition characterized by cell growth uncontrollably and disorderly in the tissue of the bladder.

Most bladder cancer starts first on the surface of the inner lining tissue of the bladder. As the cancer progress to the advanced stage, the malignant cells can infect other healthy tissue through the circulation of blood and fluid.

Bladder cancer that spreads to other parts of the body is known as metastatic bladder cancer.

According to the statistic, every year, approximately, over 80,000 adults, including 62,380 men and 18,810 women in the United States are diagnosed with bladder cancer, causing the of deaths of 12,520 men and 4,720 women.

 The 5-year relative survival rate of all stages of bladder cancer is about 77%. However, the 5-year relative survival rate for people diagnosed with stage 0 of bladder cancer is about 98%,

The statistic strongly suggested, if bladder cancer is diagnosed in the early stage, it is treatable.

The exact causes of bladder cancer are unknown. However, the age of 50 and over, men, smoking, long-term exposure to harmful chemicals are associated with the increased risk of the disease,

Some researchers suggested certain medical conditions such as diabetes, previous treatment of radiotherapy and chemotherapy and early menopause are also some of the prevalent risk factors that may increase the early onset of bladder cancer.

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi is one of the species of Bearberry, in the genus Arctostaphylos, belonging to the family Ericaceae, native to northern North America, Asia, and Europe.

The herb has been used in traditional medicine as diuretic agent and to treat urinary problems, including bladder infections, kidney infection, kidney stone, pelvic pain, etc.

The Ingredients
It contains arbutin, ursolic acid, tannic acid, gallic acid, some essential oil and resin, hydroquinones tannins, phenolic glycosides and flavonoids.

In the reaffirm of traditional medicine use of herbal Arctostaphylos uva-ursi for treatment of various types of cancer, researchers at the Chung-Ang University College of Medicine launched an investigation to examine the effects of Arbutin, a glycosylated hydroquinone extracted from the bearberry plant (Arctostaphylos species) on TCCSUP human bladder carcinoma cell.

At the dose at concentrations of < 500 microg/ml, Arbutin did not exhibit any cytotoxic effects in TCCSUP cells.

In different concentrations that are higher than 500microg/ml, Arbutin significantly decreased TCCSUP cell proliferation in a time-dependent manner.

According to the cell cycle analysis, arbutin strongly disrupted the cell cycle also in a time-dependent manner.

Furthermore, arbutin led to the inactivation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), which is known to critically regulate cell proliferation.

The in-depth analysis also found that arbutin markedly increases the expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21(WAF1/CIP1)which is considered a key mediator of p53-dependent cell cycle arrest.
 

Where p53, also known as TP53, is a protein which processes a function in regulating the cell cycle dicision and hence functions as a tumor suppression.

Dr. Li H, the lead author, after taking into account of co and confounders, said, ” arbutin inhibits TCCSUP cell proliferation via ERK inactivation and p21 up-regulation”.

Abnormal activation of ERK was found to in human cancer due to DNA mutation. The combination of ERK pathway inhibitors (cytostatic agents) and conventional anticancer drugs (cytotoxic agents) are the excellent basis for scientists to develop new chemotherapeutic strategies against cancer.

Taken altogether, herbal Arctostaphylos uva-ursi containing a high volume of Arbutin may be considered a functional herb for the prevention and combined with conventional medicine for treatment of bladder cancer,

However, further data collection large example size and multi-centers studies performed with human consumption of the whole food or its bioactive compounds during the course of the disease will be necessary to complete the picture of herbal Arctostaphylos uva-ursi anti-bladder cancer possibilities.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it’s news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada – Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

References
(1) Arbutin inhibits TCCSUP human bladder cancer cell proliferation via up-regulation of p21 By Li H, Jeong YM, Kim SY, Kim MK, Kim DS.(PubMed)