PawPaws' Cancer Clue

A chemical found in the pawpaw could help scientists understand how to treat cancer. Researchers at the University of Southampton are in a worldwide race to be the first to synthesize a key property of the exotic fruit. Pawpaws and other members of the custard apple family contain the key chemical.

Dr Richard Brown, who is leading the research at Southampton, told BBC News Online he hoped to make a copy of one of the more simple forms of the chemical "within months".

The promise of this work is that we will be able to kill off cancer cells that have become resistant to conventional chemotherapy treatment.

Dr Richard Brown from the University of Southampton and his team have just received a £100,000 grant from the Leverhulme Trust, which funds research, to develop the project.

He said: "The promise of this work is that we will be able to kill off cancer cells that have become resistant to conventional chemotherapy treatment."

'Early stages'

The chemicals in the seeds, fruits and twigs of pawpaws which could help treat cancer are found in very small amounts and will kill healthy cells as well as cancerous ones.

The aim of research team at the University of Southampton is to develop a synthetic copy.

Once that has been achieved, the scientists hope they will be able to locate what is toxic about the chemicals and change the molecular structure so the cancer cells, and not healthy ones, are targeted

Dr Brown, a Royal Society University Research Fellow, said: "The trick obviously is to enhance their toxicity towards cancerous cells."

He added that the research was aimed at furthering scientific understanding of how these chemicals worked, rather than being part of direct work on a particular drug.

"Normally it takes eight to 15 years to get a drug for the market. Perhaps that's a very ambitious and optimistic goal.

"We are in the very early stages of this work, but it is very exciting," he added.

Dr Mary Berrington, of the Cancer Research Campaign, said: "This may prove to be another example of the use of natural substances in helping scientists devise new ways of tackling cancer."

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