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Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nIn an unexpected twist in the fight against cancer, humble kitchen bacteria and a plant best known for sweetening tea could one day help in treating one of humanity\u2019s deadliest diseases, new research suggests.<\/p>\n
A group of scientists in Japan has discovered that fermented stevia, a plant commonly used as a calorie-free sweetener, may hold intriguing anti-cancer properties. While these findings are early and need much more research, they hint at a potential future role for stevia in tackling pancreatic cancer.<\/p>\n
Pancreatic cancer remains one of the most difficult cancers to treat. Symptoms typically appear only after the disease has spread, and conventional therapies like chemotherapy rarely result in a cure. <\/p>\n
The outlook is bleak: fewer than 10 per cent of patients survive five years beyond diagnosis.<\/p>\n
This urgent need for more effective and less toxic treatments has driven researchers to explore plant-based compounds. Many chemotherapy drugs already used today have botanical origins \u2013 including paclitaxel, derived from the bark of the Pacific yew tree, and vincristine, sourced from the Madagascar periwinkle \u2013 offering a proven pathway for discovering new cancer-fighting agents.<\/p>\n
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Stevia, a leafy plant native to South America, is widely known for its natural sweetness.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nStevia, a leafy plant native to South America, is widely known for its natural sweetness. It\u2019s a familiar presence on supermarket shelves, but few think of it as a medicinal plant.<\/p>\n
Stevia leaves are rich in bioactive compounds, some of which have shown hints of anticancer and antioxidant activity in previous research. The challenge has been harnessing this potential, as unfermented stevia extracts are only mildly effective in laboratory settings, often requiring high doses to affect cancer cells.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where fermentation comes in. Known for creating yoghurt, kimchi and sourdough bread, fermentation is more than a culinary technique. It\u2019s a form of microbial alchemy that can transform plant compounds into new, bioactive molecules.<\/p>\n
Researchers at Hiroshima University asked a simple but innovative question: What if stevia were fermented with the right bacteria? They experimented with a strain called Lactobacillus plantarum<\/em> SN13T, a relative of a bacteria commonly found in fermented foods. Fermentation produced a compound called chlorogenic acid methyl ester (CAME), which showed much stronger anti-cancer effects than raw stevia extract.<\/p>\n\nAbout the author<\/h2>\nJustin Stebbing is a Professor of Biomedical Sciences at Anglia Ruskin University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
In lab tests, the fermented stevia extract caused pancreatic cancer cells to die in large numbers but left healthy kidney cells largely unharmed. Further analysis revealed that CAME was responsible for this effect. It worked by blocking cancer cells at a specific phase of their life cycle, preventing them from multiplying and by triggering apoptosis, a natural process where cells self-destruct when damaged or no longer needed.<\/p>\n
CAME seems to alter the genetic programming of cancer cells. It activates genes that promote cell death while simultaneously suppressing those that help cancer cells grow and survive. This double hit slows cancer progression and encourages malignant cells to kill themselves.<\/p>\n
The power of fermentation<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n Fermented stevia extract was also found to be a stronger antioxidant than its unfermented counterpart. Oxidative stress \u2013 an imbalance of potentially harmful molecules known as free radicals in the body \u2014 is linked to cancer and other diseases. By neutralising these free radicals more effectively, the fermented extract may offer extra protection for healthy cells.<\/p>\n\nMain symptoms of pancreatic cancer<\/h2>\nNHS<\/h3>\nSymptoms of pancreatic cancer can include:<\/p>\n