Could Camels Cure Cancer?

hair-loss-camel-urine Image of camel from ukmedix news.

Researchers from King Abdulaziz University (Jeddah) have tested the effectiveness of micro and nanoshells for delivering a substance from camel urine, PMF701, thought to be a cure for cancer. These findings will be presented at the 2nd Biotechnology World Congress (Feb 18-21).

PMF701, not yet approved by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, is currently in clinical trials. In a quote published by SciDev.net, the head of the university's tissue culture unit and the principal investigator of the project Faten Abdel-Rahman Khorshid stated, "We made a natural product medicine, proved its safety and efficiency in vitro [in test tubes] and in vivo on animal models, and finished phase I clinical trials on healthy volunteers with no side effects".

More research is needed to test the ability of this controversial therapy at treating cancer. In another quote from SciDev.Net, Dr. Edzard Ernst, Emeritus Professor in Complementary Medicine from the University of Exeter (UK) stated, "There is no evidence here that this new treatment does anything to the natural history of human cancers. Even if there were positive results, it would be wise to wait for independent replications."

It will be interesting to watch the progress of this research. 

Sources:

2nd Biotechnology World Congress

SciDev.Net

F. Khorshid, H. Alshazly, A. Al Jefery and Abdel-Moneim M. Osman, 2010. Dose Escalation Phase I Study in Healthy Volunteers to Evaluate the Safety of a Natural Product PM701. Journal of Pharmacology and Toxicology, 5: 91-97.

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why just camel urine? Maybe we should all be stockpiling urine or drinking our own like the former prime minister of India?

This is very great step for science, the curing of cancer from the urine of a camel. Although the sources listed on this blog, like 2nd Biotechnology World Congress said that the results revealed that PMF in Camel urine contains different types of macro and nanoshells with different types of metals that attack A549 cells and causes apoptosis (cell death) and also claims that healthy volunteers have no side effects. I ask this question, what if the side effects are genotypic side effects rather than phenotypic? It would be very advantageous to cure cancer but I simply do not agree with the fact that ingestion of urea in the urine cannot cause adverse effects afterwards especially if it continues to be an undergoing urine therapy for a long time.

By Divine Nwafor (not verified) on 11 Feb 2013 #permalink

Very cool post Dr. Dolittle! It's amazing how scientists were able to discover a natural substance that could potentially cure cancer. I can see why it is controversial though. Nowadays we do hear about new potential cures, but then they hardly ever progress. Here is an example, however, of a cure that actually has significant potential: http://gtresearchnews.gatech.edu/brain-cancer-treatment/ This cure, rather than using a natural substance, utilizes a man made chemical called imipramine blue compound, which is an organic triphenylmethane dye. It has been tested so far in vitro, and has produced great results. Between the natural cures and engineered cures, hopefully one day we can find one that will succeed!

This is a very interesting post! I truly believe that we need to look into different natural substances in order to someday find a cure for cancer. If the findings here are accurate, we need to further our investigation, because it seems too often we find "potential" cures, but with little progression in investigating. However, if through research we find camel urine may have the "potential" cure, maybe we should look into other animal's urine as well closely related to the camel. First step, we need approval of PMF701 by the Food and Drug Authority. Hopefully, this substance will be one of many that will be able to cure cancer for good!

By Maggie Steel (not verified) on 12 Feb 2013 #permalink

This is an interesting blog. I myself am a cancer survivor. I'm always interested in what is going on the the cancer world and any advancements we have made towards curing it. However, I see this being quite controversial. I typically hear a lot about new potential cures that never really fall through. The main source of this blog, 2nd Biotechnology World Congress, states that this camel urine has different types of nanoshells that attack cells and cause cell death. This may be good for cancer cells because they grow too rapidly. Will this only attack cancer cells, though? What if it happens to attack normal healthy cells as well? Are we sure there are no side effects from this. I find it hard to believe that humans can just ingest this with having at least some minor side effects. I think that this is definitely a step in the right direction. I just believe that we may need to see more work and study done on this before it's ready.

By Gavin Washington (not verified) on 12 Feb 2013 #permalink

I agree. What is it about camel urine that specifically aids in the cessation of multiplying neoplasms in humans. Cancerous cells are potentially caused by reactive oxygen species "free radicals" within the body and I could see that maybe the nitrogen rich urea forms a product which acts as an antioxidant like uric acid ,the highest concentration antioxidant in the human body, to prevent the radical formation leading to neoplasms and cellular mutation. However what about cells that are already malignant? Where is the cessation of division occurring, if it it even is. Many people rarely catch cancer in the early stages, and this is the only logic I can come to think as to where this theory could be applied. It is definitely a step in the right direction towards oncology if so, but how and why?

I find it very interesting that something as simple and random as camel urine has even been thought of to be used as a cure for cancer. I find it hard to believe that anything will come out of this, considering the majority of blogs that I read that consist of a cure for cancer never really come out to anything. I just found this article interesting because our society today revolves around "man-made" substances that we ingest without thinking twice about. With this, we are atleasting exploring an all-natural method that could potentially save many lives. Here's hoping that this camel urine can get us over the cancer "hump" (haha).

By Scott Jablonski (not verified) on 13 Feb 2013 #permalink

Researchers from King Abdulaziz University (Jeddah) have tested the effectiveness of micro and nanoshells for delivering a substance from camel urine, PMF701, thought to be a cure for cancer. These findings will be presented at the 2nd Biotechnology World Congress (Feb 18-21).

PMF701, not yet approved by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, is currently in clinical trials. In a quote published by SciDev.net, the head of the university’s tissue culture unit and the principal investigator of the project Faten Abdel-Rahman Khorshid stated, “We made a natural product medicine, proved its safety and efficiency in vitro [in test tubes] and in vivo on animal models, and finished phase I clinical trials on healthy volunteers with no side effects”.

actually 1400 years ago Islam Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) said that camel urine and milk is very useful, i think this is the motive behind this study

I want to make relation and want to have information from Prof.Faten Abdulrahman Khorishid who innovates new medicine for cancer.