Researchers based at the Leicester School of Pharmacy showed that human cancer cells (which contain an enzyme called P450 CYP1B1) were destroyed by a compound called Salvestrol Q40, contained in tangerine peel. Some types of human cancer cells contain abnormally high levels of P450 CYP1B1.(1), (2)

Salvestrol Q40 is found in the skin of fruits but is removed from the diet when fruit is eaten without its peel or is processed for fruit-based products such as fruit juice.

Medicinal chemist Dr Hoon L. Tan said: "Salvestrols may offer a new mechanism of dietary anti-cancer action. Indeed, the depletion of salvestrols in the modern diet is due to the fact that many people no longer eat the skin of fruits and this may be a major contributory factor to the increasing incidence of some cancers in the human population."

The researchers have formed a private company, Nature's Defence Investments, to protect and promote their research, with the potential of designing a natural anti-cancer alternative based on this new technology.

Dr Tan said: "It is very exciting to find a compound in food that can target cancers specifically. However, it is still early days and many tests will be needed before reaching the clinical trial stage."

References

(1). Murray GI, et al. Cancer Research 1997;57(14)3026-31.

(2). Potter GA, et al. British Journal of Cancer 2002;86:774-8.

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U.S. health care spending per capita was 2.5 times greater than the median OECD country. The United States spent 15.3% of our gross domestic product on health care, which is substantially higher than any other OECD country. U.S. growth in health care spending per capita from 1994 to 2004 was similar to the OECD median. The United States has promoted policies to reduce the number of hospital days as a way to contain costs. It is now ranked fourth highest among OECD countries for hospital spending per capita. The United States spent 3.6 times what the median OECD country spent in 2004 for outpatient care. Most of the difference between the United States and other countries is attributable to higher spending on physician services. The United States had fewer physicians, nurses and hospital beds per capita than the OECD median. The United States also had lower utilization rates than the OECD median for physician visits per capita, acute care bed days and average length of inpatient stay.

The study authors examined the prevalence of chronic disease as an increasing financial burden in the United States and other countries. Five chronic diseases ”diabetes, respiratory disease, cerebrovascular disease, heart disease and malignant neoplasm ”cause two-thirds of deaths in the United States. Compared to other OECD countries, we have the highest mortality rate for some of these chronic diseases, but not all.

The authors explain that policy makers in the United States and elsewhere need to devote more attention to chronic disease, something that is already beginning to happen. "Policy makers in many countries have recognized the necessity of coordinating efforts to manage chronic disease, especially for people with multiple chronic diseases," said Anderson. "It is recognized that behaviors such as diet, inactive lifestyle and alcohol and tobacco consumption must be modified in order for chronic disease to decrease, which would in turn reduce overall health care spending."

Bianca K. Frogner, a JHSPH doctoral candidate, and Uwe E. Reinhardt, a professor with Princeton University, co-authored the study.

"Health Spending in OECD Countries in 2004: An Update" was supported by a grant from The Commonwealth Fund.

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