Growing Milkweed: A Plant With Prospective Anti-Cancer Properties

PETTY SPURGE (EUPHORBIA PEPLUS)

A review of the medicinal potential of members of the Euphorbiaceae family also commonly known as Petty Spurge and not so commonly Euphorbia peplus...

THIS PLANT IS FREE
Over 70% of current pharmaceuticals are natural products or have been developed from a natural product lead. E.peplus is one of a number of plants in the Euphorbiaceae family that has attracted attention as a home remedy for skin cancer because of its milky sap. However, a survey by Peplin Biotech of over 200 species of the Euphorbiaceae family has shown that only E.peplus has the desired attributes of anti-cancer efficacy in vitro and in vivo. In addition, E.peplus is not a noxious weed, it grows rapidly, produces harvestable seed and it is potentially suitable for large-scale agricultural production. Thought to originate from Europe, E.peplus is now widespread throughout the world and can be found in most gardens.

CLINICAL TRIALS
Peplin Biotech began a study to determine the performance of crude sap against a variety of cancers, with an emphasis on skin cancers. Surprisingly, the sap was not only efficacious against a variety of skin cancer cell lines, including strains of malignant melanoma resistant to conventional chemotherapeutic agents, but also had powerful cell inhibitory activity against a wide range of other tumors tested, including also breast cancer cells.
The means are available to conduct clinical trials with a purified compound, delivered in a suitable cream. Problems of extraction of compound and purification have been largely overcome. The rate-limiting step at present is shortage of compound, due to lack of knowledge about large-scale agriculture.