Researchers Make Progress on Eye Cancer

A childhood eye cancer that is fatal in third-world countries may be managed with a drug made from the bark of a South American tree, researchers reported.

Retinoblastoma accounts for about 3 percent of cancers in children and is one of the most curable pediatric cancers in developed countries, using chemotherapy combined with laser therapy or cryotherapy, the journal Eye reported Friday.

But the cancer remains fatal in the developing world.

Researcher Heeral Shah at the University of California, San Francisco, reported that beta-lapachone derived from the lapacho tree inhibited the growth and proliferation of retinoblastoma cells. The beta-lapachone also destroyed retinoblastoma cells, Shah reported.

Shah and his colleagues said that their findings are consistent with studies of the effect of beta-lapachone on other human cancers, including breast, colon and lung cancers.