N. American Paw Paw (Asimina triloba) as part of treatment?

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Esmeralda_AU
Esmeralda_AU Member Posts: 2
edited April 2021 in Complementary and Holistic Medicine and Treatment

I was recently diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer (2 tumours in left breast, 3 lymph glands affected, and lesions on each of T3 vertebra and sternum). Before having the PET scan which showed the cancer had spread, I was looking at the standard treatment regime, beginning with mastectomy and removal of the lymph glands. However, with surgery no longer an option, I began hormone therapy (Letrozole) a week ago. Note I was also prescriibed Palbociclib, but given the serious side-effects, I'm giving it a miss for now.

I'm interested in any complementary therapies that may be beneficial, and read that that paw paw derived from the twigs of the North American tree (Asimina triloba) can shrink cancer tumours. (Refer work undertaken by Dr Jerry McLaughlin at Purdue University, and the book 'Your Fourth Choice: Killing Cancer Cells with Paw Paw...' by John Clifton.) Has anyone had success incorporating paw paw into their treatment regime? Was there evidence of tumour shrinkage, or non-progression? If so, over what timeframe? Will the efficacy of paw paw be reduced when taken in conjunction with Letrozole?

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  • saltmarsh
    saltmarsh Member Posts: 227
    edited April 2021

    I have never heard of this, but will read about it, as paw-paws grow local to me -- in small numbers, at least.

    Edited to add: Well, that's an interesting read! It's absolutely true that pawpaws are hard to bring to market. I first ate one when a neighbor who knew a farmer who happened to have a few pawpaw trees invited him to fill a truck, bring it here, and sell them out of his truck. People loved them so much that the next year we did a group order and my toddler-aged son and I spent a day counting out and weighing them and making bundles for our neighbors. The neighborhood gets a once-a-year delivery from him now. Unfortunately, their fruiting period is very, very short, they don't transport well at all, and they aren't pretty to look at, so no one wants to buy them from farmers, even when the fruit is perfectly good and tastes amazing. Also, he's getting on in years and unless he passes his knowledge on to whomever owns the land next, folks probably won't know what to do to care for the trees.

    You have revived my interest in seeing if we could cultivate some trees here in our neighborhood. Thank you for sharing!

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  • Esmeralda_AU
    Esmeralda_AU Member Posts: 2
    edited April 2021

    You're welcome, saltmarsh! I've never eaten paw paw myself; it's a tropical fruit grown only in the warmer states up north (Queensland and the Northern Territory), and although it's shipped down here sometimes, I haven't been tempted to buy it.

    Re cancer treatment, research shows that the benefits are specific to the N. American paw paw tree (Asimina triloba), and I plan on trying the capsules derived from the twig extracts.

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  • ShetlandPony
    ShetlandPony Member Posts: 4,924
    edited April 2021

    Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has an Integrative Medicine web site where you can look up herbs, supplements, etc. It has lots of info for patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals. Here is an excerpt from the article on American pawpaw:

    "Test tube studies suggest pawpaw may have activity against cancer cells, but experiments in mice produced conflicting results. There are no published clinical studies in humans that test safety or effectiveness of pawpaw as a cancer treatment....Pawpaw fruit contains high concentrations of annonacin, which is toxic to nerve cells. In addition there have been case reports of possibly related nerve toxicity. Therefore, chronic use should be avoided."

    https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/american-pawpaw


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