A WEED extract that has already shown promise as a treatment for skin cancer might also help treat one kind of leukaemia.
The weed is petty spurge (Euphorbia peplus), which has long been used to treat warts and corns. An extract of petty spurge, ingenol 3-angelate or PEP005, developed in Australia by the Brisbane-based company Peplin, produced impressive results when applied directly to skin cancers in animals. Initial human trials of the compound as a treatment for non-melanoma skin cancers, the most common form of cancer worldwide, are under way.
Lab tests had hinted that PEP005 might also be effective…
