がんの科学と治療

Therapeutic Applications of Camel’s Milk and Urine against Cancer: Current Development Efforts and Future Perspectives

Abstract

Getachew Alebie, Seile Yohannes and Amha Worku

The management of cancer in human yet remains a major challenge in contemporary medicine. Natural products have been identified as one of the sources of numerous therapeutic agents. Camel’s milk and urine are among such natural products enriched with molecules that are safe to humans and endowed with profound anti-cancer properties. In vitro studies of the anticancer effects of these products are mainly attributed to inhibition of carcinogenesis and mutagenesis, proliferation, and induction of apoptosis. Camel products also showed an improvement in the life span and the survival of animals among the in vivo studies recorded, an effect caused mainly via clearance of malignant tumors in various organs and inhibition of progression to metastasis. Furthermore, prospects of harvesting promising therapeutic nanoparticles/nano-bodies/nano-rods are now being explored from such natural products for cancer therapy. Yet, prominent gap is evident in regard to advanced research geared towards identifying and designing suitable nano-materials. Therefore, a multi-pronged approach entailing a deeper understanding of cancer biology, nanomaterial’s molecular characteristics on tumor environment, and further formulation of nano-clones is underscored to position them as clinically useful pharmaceuticals.