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Cancer Treatment from an Unlikely Source—Insects
With a name like “blister beetle,” the Coleoptera family of insects don’t sound like they do much for your health, but they could. U.S. researchers, in trying to find a way to battle cancer, have recently turned their attention to the blister beetle.
It has long been used in traditional forms of medicine, and more recently, it has been linked to anti-cancer abilities.
Also known as “Spanish fly” and “cantharidin,” blister beetles have long been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Vietnamese Medicine. The substance cantharidin, which is secreted by the beetle, is known to block a number of proteins in the body.
For this reason, it has been used to battle viral infections, warts, and cancer. Researchers tested to see how cantharidin reacted with certain genes, discovering that it is “potentially useful” in the treatment of tumors. And they weren’t talking about just any tumors, but those that don’t respond to other forms of treatment—the stubborn tumors, the cancers that are very hard to stop.
Read More – http://www.doctorshealthpress.com/cancer-articles/cancer-treatment-from-an-unlikely-source-insects
