CUHP starts research on use of tulsi, amla for breast cancer treatment

Dharamsala, September 10

The Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) has started research on developing a breast cancer remedial approach using traditional medicinal plants ashwagandha, turmeric, amla and Tulsi.

Vice-Chancellor of the CUHP Satprakash Bansal said today that the scientists of the Department of Animal Sciences in the university were conducting the research. “We have completed the first year of the project and established 20 types of diagnostic tests for the detection of breast cancer that were performed in the laboratory of the Department of Animal Sciences of the CUHP. Now, in the second year, we are administering different doses of synergistic medicinal plants on breast cancer mice models to evaluate their therapeutic effects. A study is going on and positive results may come by the end of this year,” he added.

He said that despite the fact that each medicinal plant had properties to treat diseases, they were not very effective in the treatment of breast cancer alone. Every medicinal plant had its own differential curative potential, he added.

Bansal said, “Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women worldwide. In 2020, there were an estimated 2.3 million new cases of breast cancer diagnosed and around 6.85 lakh women died of it. In India, the incidence rate of breast cancer is 13.5 per cent and the mortality rate is 10.6 per cent. At a five years prevalence rate of 69.28 per cent, breast cancer stands at the number one position among all other cancers in India. So, there is an urgent need to identify effective remedial measures to improve the survival rate of patients suffering from breast cancer.”

The Vice-Chancellor said that a lot of modern techniques, including surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, were there but still the mortality and morbidity of breast cancer were not controlled. Chemotherapy always causes toxic effects on healthy nearby cells, leading to a serious threat to health. “The use of medicinal plants causes no toxic effect because these are usual constituents of our normal diet. These medicinal plants are used almost in all homes. This research is exploring the quantity and combination of these medicinal plants and the role of their active ingredients in treating breast cancer. This will make cancer treatment economical with least side effects. This type of research is useful for society through reduced cost of cancer treatment. The study on breast cancer drug on the completion of third year will definitely economise breast cancer treatment,” he added.

He said that the Union Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Naturopathy had provided Rs 40 lakh to the university for the research project that would be completed in three years.