Al Ain: Origanum Majorana (marjoram herb), a widespread plant with a long history of both culinary and traditional medicine, may be a promising chemo-preventive and therapeutic candidate against cancer, especially for breast cancer, a UAE research has found.
Associate professor in the Department of Biology, United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) Dr Rabah Iratni and his team of researchers have “found that the leaf extract from the marjoram herb (Origanum Majorana) can inhibit the growth of cultured invasive breast cancer cells.”
The study, which was published in the international scientific journal “PloS ONE” and “Nature Middle-East”, has a lot of significance.
UAE accounts for 15 per cent of all deaths due to cancer with breast cancer being the most frequently diagnosed one among women. It ranks only second as a cause of cancer death in women after lung cancer.
Dr Iratni established a laboratory three years ago to explore if a potent new anti-cancer drug could be found in home gardens.
Dr Iratni’s research team began studying various types of plant extracts and naturally occurring phytochemicals in the search for new compounds that could provide more effective, less toxic ways to fight different forms of cancer, with a focus on breast and lung cancer.
So far, the laboratory has evaluated numerous phytochemicals and extracts and many of them have revealed to be highly effective against these cancers.
The result of the study leads to an effective herbal medicine for cancer cure.
“We found out that the Origanum extract (OME) elicited different effects on the invasive breast cancer cells. Lower concentrations of the extract blocked the breast cancer cells at the mitosis stage of cell division. On the other hand, higher concentrations triggered massive cell death and caused severe depletion of the mutant “tumour suppressor” protein in these cells. It is noteworthy to mention that the mutant has been reported to play a key role in cancer cell resistance to certain anti-cancer drugs and thus is considered as a potential cancer-specific target for pharmacologic interventions.”
“Hence, our findings provide strong evidence that Origanum Majorana may be a promising chemo-preventive and therapeutic candidate against cancer, especially for highly invasive triple negative mutant breast cancer, thus validating its complementary and alternative medicinal use,” said Dr Iratni.
Dr Ali Rashid Al Noaimi, UAEU vice-chancellor, commended the team of researcher.
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