Avocado Fats Could Treat Blood Cancers

Drugs from avocado extracts can combat a rare type of leukemia and significantly improve survival.

Paul Spangnuolo and his team at University of Waterloo discovered a lipid in avocados called Avocatin B that selectively targets Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) stem cells without damaging healthy blood cells. Researchers found that the lipid-derived compounds were insensitive to cells without functional mitochondria. The risk of AML increase with age and the disease is mostly fatal in older adults.

"Avocatin B inhibited fatty acid oxidation and decreased NADPH [a helper molecule for enzymes] levels, resulting in ROS-dependent leukemia cell death characterized by the release of mitochondrial proteins, apoptosis-inducing factor, and cytochrome c. This study reveals a novel strategy for selective leukemia cell eradication based on a specific difference in mitochondrial function," researchers wrote in the journal Cancer Research.

Use of natural extracts to combat cancer by targeting the stem cell is a growing area of research. Spagnuolo says that targeting the stem cell is the key.

"The stem cell is really the cell that drives the disease. The stem cell is largely responsible for the disease developing and it's the reason why so many patients with leukemia relapse. We've performed many rounds of testing to determine how this new drug works at a molecular level and confirmed that it targets stem cells selectively, leaving healthy cells unharmed," said Professor Spagnuolo.

While a clinical drug is years away, the researchers are reportedly working on conducting phase I clinical trials.