A compound in garlic slows the spread of human lung cancer cells, according to researchers in Penn State's College of Health and Human Development. A compound in garlic slows the spread of human lung cancer cells, according to researchers in Penn State's College of Health and Human Development.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States.
Sakamoto described her findings at Experimental Biology '96, a meeting of 18 scientific societies. The study, funded by the American Institute for Cancer Research, was conducted in Milner's laboratory. The effectiveness of DATS was comparable to that of 5-fluorouracil, a widely used chemotherapy agent, Milner says. In addition, while DATS was effective against the lung cancer cells, it was considerably less toxic to healthy cells. The findings are the latest in a growing body of evidence that garlic can suppress human cancer cells, both in laboratory cultures and in test animals.