Chlorophyll and Selenium Help Reverse Cancer, Researchers Say

Research from the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University suggests that natural
compounds of chlorophyll, chlorophyllin, and selenium compounds, which previously have been
studied for their ability to preventing a cancerous condition, may be able to play a more
significant role in reversing a cancerous condition.

A new study just published in the International Journal of Cancer examined the activity of
chlorophyllin and found that, on a dose-by-dose basis, it was 10 times more potent at causing
death of colon cancer cells than hydroxyurea, a chemotherapeutic drug commonly used in cancer
treatment.

Beyond that, chlorophyllin kills cancer cells by blocking the same phase of cellular division that
hydroxyurea does, but by a different mechanism. This suggests that it – and possibly other
“cocktails” of natural products – might be developed to have a synergistic effect with
conventional cancer drugs, helping them to work better or require less toxic dosages, researchers
said.

“We conclude that chlorophyllin has the potential to be effective in the clinical setting, when
used alone or in combination with currently available cancer therapeutic agents,” the researchers
wrote in their study.

The concept of combining conventional or new cancer drugs with natural compounds that have
been shown to have anti-cancer properties is very promising, said Rod Dashwood, professor and
director of the Cancer Chemoprotection Program in the Linus Pauling Institute.

“Most chemotherapeutic approaches to cancer try to target cancer cells specifically and do
something that slows or stops their cell growth process,” Dashwood said. “We’re now
identifying such mechanisms of action for natural compounds, including dietary agents. With
further research we may be able to make the two approaches work together to enhance the
effectiveness of cancer therapies.”

Chlorophyllin is a water-soluble derivative of chlorophyll – the green pigment found in most

plants and many food products that makes possible the process of photosynthesis and plant
growth from the sun’s energy. Chlorophyllin is inexpensive, and animal studies plus human
clinical data suggest that it can be ingested at relatively high levels without toxicity.

In the new study, researchers found that pharmacologic doses of chlorophyllin caused colon
cancer cells to spend more time than normal in their “synthesis phase” in which DNA is
duplicated. Timing is critical to the various phases of cell growth, researchers said, and this
disruption started a process that ultimately led to cell death, the study found.
In particular, the presence of high levels of chlorophyllin caused a major reduction in the level of
ribonucleotide reductase, an enzyme critical to DNA synthesis, researchers found. This is also
the mechanism of action of hydroxyurea, one drug already being used for cancer chemotherapy.

“In cancer research right now there’s interest in approaches that can reduce ribonucleotide
reductase,” Dashwood said. “At the doses used in our experiments, chlorophyllin almost
completely stops the activity of this enzyme.”

Further research is needed both in laboratory and animal studies, with combinations of
chlorophyllin and existing cancer drugs, before it would be appropriate for human trials,
Dashwood said. Chlorophyllin, in general, is poorly absorbed from the human gastrointestinal
tract, so it’s unclear what levels might be needed for therapeutic purposes or how well they
would work.

Other dietary agents also might have similar potential. Work just published by LPI researchers in
the journals Carcinogenesis and Cancer Prevention Research explored the role of organic
selenium compounds in killing human prostate and colon cancer cells. Colorectal and prostate
cancers are consistently among the leading causes of cancer mortality in the United States, and
will account respectively for 18 percent and 9 percent of all cancer deaths in 2009, according to
estimates from the American Cancer Society.

In the recent studies, a form of organic selenium found naturally in garlic and Brazil nuts was
converted in cancer cells to metabolites that acted as “HDAC inhibitors” – a promising field of
research in which silenced tumor suppressor genes are re-activated, triggering cancer cell death.

“Whether it’s HDAC inhibition leading to one manner of cancer cell growth arrest, or loss of
ribonucleotide reductase activity leading to another, as seen with chlorophyllin, there’s
significant promise in the use of natural products for combined cancer therapies,” Dashwood
said. “These are areas that merit continued research.”

These studies were supported by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences. Other collaborators included researchers from the New York
Medical College and the Penn State College of Medicine.

Chlorophyll is identical to your hemoglobin except for the center atom. Dr. Robert O. Young's,
at the pH Miracle Living Center in San Diego, California suggests, "as one increases their
consumption of chlorophyll from green foods and green drinks the quality and quantity of the red
blood cells improve. This can be noted on a CBC medical test as the red blood cell count
increases and the hemoglobin increases to a healthy range. Liquid chlorophyll and chlorophyllin
can be added to any water or green drink to improve the concentration of this powerful blood
building compound."

http://www.phmiracleliving.com/p-306-liquid-chloropheal-4-oz.aspx
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