A shrub that causes a rash like poison ivy, also seems to fight cancer. The croton plant of Southeast Asia, long known to oriental herbalists and homeopaths as a purgative, contains a compound that shows promise for the treatment of prostate cancer — the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States — as well as leukemia. The compound generally is known as TPA.
The researchers from Rutgers University found TPA stops the growth of new prostate cancer cells, kills existing cancer cells and shrinks prostate tumors.
In addition, the researchers said, extremely low concentrations of TPA are potent in fighting myeloid leukemia cells, causing them to revert to normal cell behavior. When TPA was administered to terminally ill myeloid leukemia patients in China, the number of leukemia cells in the blood and bone marrow decreased and there were remissions of the disease.