Can Quercetin Help Treat Leukemia?
Also known as acute lymphocytic leukemia and acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL), it is the most common type of leukemia diagnosed in children under the age of 15 but has been found in people of all ages. With over 60% of all cases occurring in people under age 20 and almost 80% of those surviving to five years and beyond, it is considered a highly curable disease.46-47
Wnt ligands are proteins that belong to one of the largest groups of glycoproteins responsible for many of our bodily functions.48 Scientists have associated abnormal signaling by some of these proteins with the development of several types of cancers, including leukemia and solid tumors like those in colon cancer.48-49
One recently published study tested the effects of quercetin on cell lines developed from bone marrow taken from 261 patients suffering from this cancer. Results suggest that quercetin may offer chemotherapeutic effects by inhibiting ß-catenin (a Wnt protein) and inducing cellular death in these cancer cells.49