Ginkgo Biloba

Ginkgo Biloba for Brain and Breast Tumors

Animal experiments, conducted at the Georgetown University Medical Center, found that ginkgo biloba may have preventive effects for cancerous human brain and breast tumors.

In the January-February 2006 issue of the journal Anticancer Research, the investigators reported that treating mice with an extract of leaves of ginkgo biloba both before and after implanting human breast or brain (glioma) tumors decreased expression of a cell receptor associated with invasive cancer. This decreased expression slowed the growth of the breast tumors by 80 percent as long as the extract was used, compared to untreated mice, and also reduced the size of the brain tumors, but temporarily, and to a lesser extent.

“It is very encouraging that ginkgo biloba appeared to reduce the aggressiveness of these cancers, because it suggests that the leaves could be useful in some early stage diseases to prevent them from becoming invasive, or spreading,” said the study's senior author, Vassilios Papadopoulos, DPharm, PhD, Director, Biomedical Graduate Research Organization and Associate Vice President of Georgetown University Medical Center.

“But I must stress that this is a study in mice, and so we cannot say what anticancer effects, if any, ginkgo biloba might offer humans,” he said.

Click here to continue to page 7…