This plant found in Amazon can help immensely in liver cancer treatment claims experts

Scientists claim that botanical extract from Vismia baccifera can kill tumours in a lab by triggering cancer cells to commit suicide without harming healthy tissue

Botanical extract from Vismia baccifera can kill liver cancer cells without harming healthy tissues, say scientists. © Shutterstock

Some ailments need specialised medical care and when it comes to cancer you cannot ignore the fact that an integrated approach is what that is necessary surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Liver cancer is one such procedure that needs specialised treatment planning depending on the nature of the cancer and its progress. Usually, it is treated with chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, liver transplant, ablation therapy, embolisation. A complete treatment would be a combination of three or four of these procedures. Liver cancer occurs when the cells within the liver multiply abnormally leading to the formation of a mass or scar tissue over a damaged area of the liver. This, in turn, causes improper functioning of the liver leading to further complications. While surgery, chemotherapy and radiation are considered the best trio in eradicating the cancer sometimes help of some natural remedies in adjunct to the modernised treatments also help.

Some natural remedies have in the past too claimed to be a great help in treating cancers along with the conventional treatments. In the past few years some people have claimed how cannabis can cure major health conditions including cancer. Now scientists are saying that a plant found in the Amazon may be highly effective against liver cancer. They claim that botanical extract from Vismia baccifera can kill tumours in a lab by triggering cancer cells to commit suicide without harming healthy tissue. This is one of the greatest advantages of this plant.

Indigenous people in the area use the plant for anti-inflammatory effects and for urinary tract disorders or skin diseases. It produces substances like hydrogen peroxide that stops cancer cells from dividing and damages their DNA. However studies are in the nascent stage and will required some more evidence to be introduced as medicinal shots.

The study also found that the plant doesn't affect healthy human liver cells.