Research team hails Chinese herb as key to fighting lung cancer

A DUBLIN research team has identified a way of using a Chinese medical herb to help improve the effectiveness of treatment for lung cancer.

They have adapted an existing drug compound from a herb to create a drug that halts the activity of two proteins in lung cancer cells that limit the effectiveness of chemotherapy.

The research at St James’s Hospital is midway through a three-year €120,000 project funded by the Irish Cancer Society. It is hoped that it might lead to treatment to complement chemotherapy in lung cancer patients.