Scientists produce cancer-fighting substance from common daisy-like flower

The compounds, which destroyed chronic lymphocytic leukaemia cells, show promise of being developed into drugs, said the University of Birmingham.

Cancer-fighting substances can be extracted and produced from a common daisy-like flower, scientists have shown.

Researchers demonstrated a method for removing and modifying parthenolide from feverfew plants, making compounds which killed cancer cells in laboratory tests.

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The compounds, which destroyed chronic lymphocytic leukaemia cells, show promise of being devloped into drugs, said the University of Birmingham, which carried out the research.

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"It's a clear demonstration that parthenolide has the potential to progress from the flowerbed into the clinic" - Professor John Fossey, University of Birmingham

They appear to kill cancerous cells by increasing the levels of reactive oxygen species, an unstable molecule, to a critical point, it added.

Professor John Fossey, from the university's school of chemistry, said: "This research is important not only because we have shown a way of producing parthenolide that could make it much more accessible to researchers, but also because we've been able to improve its 'drug-like' properties to kill cancer cells.

"It's a clear demonstration that parthenolide has the potential to progress from the flowerbed into the clinic."

Feverfew, which is sold in health shops as a remedy for migraines and inflammation, is a common flowering plant from the daisy family Asteraceae.

The study is published in the journal MedChemComm.