Frankincense Essential Oil Targets Cancer Cells

Subject: 

Aromatherapy for Cancer Treatment

Frankincense Essential Oil Targets Cancer Cells : 

A study in the journal BioMed Central journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, March 2009, titled: "Frankincense oil derived from Boswellia carteri induces tumor cell specific cytotoxicity" concludes with: "Frankincense oil appears to distinguish cancerous from normal bladder cells and suppress cancer cell viability. Microarray and bioinformatics analysis proposed multiple pathways that can be activated by frankincense oil to induce bladder cancer cell death. Frankincense oil might represent an alternative intravesical agent for bladder cancer treatment." ...while a bit technical, this is very, very promising -- essentially saying that this easily obtained, inexpensive, NON-TOXIC natural compound can eradicate cancer cells without harming normal, healthy cells in the same organ. Frankincense has a long, long history of medicinal use, and searching for 'frankincense cancer' produces 30 results just for this material. If choosing an essential oil of Frankincense, the 'carteri' species has been the subject of most research, with cold-process Carbon Dioxide distilled oils considered the most therapeutic (seek CO2 or SCO2 distilled oils or extracts, as offered by Ananda here).
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Other Said Benefits Of Frankincense

• Prostate Cancer : In the March 2010 issue of "Molecular Pharmacology," Dr. Aydee C. Estrada, et al., reported on the effects of tirucallic acids against prostate cancer. Tirucallic acids are the active ingredients found in frankincense. Dr. Estrada found that tirucallic acids extracted from frankincense successfully killed cultured human prostate cancer cells that were experimentally grafted into mice, by inducing the expression of proteins that are important in apoptosis. Apoptosis is a cell process that produces cellular death and is a process most cancers have learned to avoid.
• Leukemia : Acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, is a cancer that occurs in the bone marrow and originates in cells that eventually develop into white blood cells of the immune system. AML is rare in children and generally only affects adults over the age of forty. In the March 2005 issue of "Molecular Cancer Therapy," Dr. Lijuan Xia, et al., reported that in laboratory-based experiments, resin from frankincense extract successfully induced apoptosis, increasing cell death by approximately 40 percent in leukemia cells.
• Kidney Cancer : Using human bladder cancer cell lines, as reported in the March 2009 issue of "BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine," Dr. Mark Barton Frank, et al., illustrated that frankincense was cytotoxic for bladder tumor cells. In other words, frankincense might provide benefit against bladder cancer by killing cancer cells, while not affecting normal cells. Further experiments are necessary to verify the results.
• Ovarian Cancer : According to researchers at the University of Leicester, it has been discovered that frankincense contains cancer-killing properties for ovarian cancer. The compound AKBA (acetyl-11-keto-beta-boswellic acid) in frankincense has the ability to target cancer cells in late-stage ovarian patients.
• Bladder Cancer : A recent paper published in the journal Chinese Medicine identified sandalwood’s anti-cancer potential alongside that of a related oil, frankincense. Operating in coordinated but distinct ways, these two precious oils were observed to both promote cancer cell death and inhibit cancer cell potency. The latter effect is where sandalwood oil really got to show off its power, halting the viability of two particular cells implicated in human bladder cancers: J82 and UROtsa. Like frankincense oil, sandalwood was shown to activate certain signaling pathways in order to fight against these cells, but its mode of achieving this was found to be distinct from its partnered oil.
• inflammatory diseases : Frankincense is also used in traditional medicines to treat inflammatory disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and Crohn's disease. AKBA (3-0-acetyl-keto-beta-boswellic acid) is one of the active ingredients in frankincense and has anti-inflammatory properties.
• acne
• anxiety
• asthma
• bronchitis
• colds
• coughs
• indigestion
• ulcers
• to alleviate stress and relieve pain.
• skin-care products, frankincense essential oil is said to treat dry skin, reverse signs of aging, and reduce the appearance of scars and stretch marks.

Medical Disclaimer

This information is not meant to be substituted for medical advice. Always consult a medical professional regarding any medical problems and before undertaking any treatment or dietary changes.

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Resources: wikipedia / wikiwel.com / aromatherapy / Alternative Cancer Treatments / Essential Oil
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