Apricot, the Most Prominent Fruit for the Prevention and Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer

Apricot may have a potential for the cure of pancreatic cancer without inducing any side effects, some scientists suggested.

Pancreatic cancer is a chronic condition caused by irregular cell growth in the tissue of the pancreas.

Most primary pancreatic cancer starts with the alternated DNA cells on the surface of the inner lining of the pancreas organ.

At the advanced stage, the malignant cells in the pancreas can travel a distance way to infect other tissue and organ through lymph and blood.

Including all the stages, the 5 years survival rate of pancreatic cancer is 7% and it is considered the most rapidly fatal cancer.
Most people at the early stage of pancreatic cancer do not experience any symptoms. However, at the later stage, as the tumor has grown large enough, it can suppress the nearby tissue and nerve cells, leading to localized symptoms and severe pain.

The exact causes of pancreatic cancer are unknown. Age, gender, race, family history. and inherited genetic syndromes were found to associate to the risk factor of the onset of the disease, epidemiologically.

Some researchers suggested that the most common risk factors that cause the development of pancreatic cancer are found in patients associated with a history of tobacco use and obesity.

Dr. Alguacil J in the study to examine the association between noncigarette tobacco use (i.e., cigars, pipes, smokeless tobacco) and pancreatic cancer risk among nonsmokers of cigarettes, said, "Cigarette smoking is an important and well-established cause of pancreatic cancer." and "Long-term use of smokeless tobacco (i.e., >20 years) was also associated with a nonsignificant increased risk" and "heavy use of smokeless tobacco, and to a lesser extent, cigar smoking may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer among nonsmokers of cigarettes".

These result suggested cigarettes and noncigarette smoking are associated with the increased risk of pancreatic cancer in a type-dependent manner.

In the obesity front, Dr, Michaud DS in the study "Obesity and Pancreatic Cancer" said, "obesity early in adulthood is strongly associated with future risk of pancreatic cancer and that abdominal obesity is an independent risk factor. There is increasing evidence suggesting long-standing diabetes type 2 and insulin resistance are important etiological factors of this disease, providing a strong mechanistic link to obesity".

The apricot tree is about 8–12 m tall and a trunk up to 40 cm diameter belongs to the family Rosaceae.

Apricot is classified with the family of the plum and has yellow to orange, often tinged red on the side which is exposed to the sun.

The chemical constituents of apricot include
Oleic acid, linoleic acid, palmitic.acid, glycolipids, phospholipids, benzoic acid (I), isorhamnetin (II), quercetin (III), kaempferol-3-O-beta-D-galactopyranoside (IV), isorhamnetin-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (V), isoquercitrin (VI), hypericin (VII) and rutin (VIII)(a) and flavonoid glycosides.

The research team on cancer program at the Shimane University showed that MK615 produced from Japanese apricot and contains several cyclic triterpenes, such as oleanolic and ursolic acids may have an effect in the inhibition of pancreatic cancer.

The experiments were performed on several human cancer cell lines exposed to MK615 for 7 days and in vivo growth of human pancreatic cancer MIAPaCa-2 cells.

Application of MK615 inhibited the growth of several human cancer cell lines in a concentration-dependent way.

Pancreatic cancer MIAPaCa-2 cells were highly sensitive to the growth-inhibiting effects of MK615.

Treatment with MK615 preferentially induced cell death in human cancer cells without causing harm to the nearby cells such as human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and mouse bone marrow cells.


MIAPaCa-2 cells incubated with MK615 in the presence of antioxidant, growth-inhibition was significantly reduced.


MK615 induced the accumulation of reactive oxygen species in the exertion of cytotoxicity to the cancer cells but not in HUVEC.

Finally, researchers also found that MK615, in both the presence and absence of gemcitabine, significantly inhibited the growth of human pancreatic cancer cells as xenografts without apparent adverse effects.


The findings suggested that MK615, a supplement produced from Japanese apricot, processes a potential and therapeutic value in treating pancreatic cancers through a reactive oxygen species-dependent mechanism.

The study was published on the National Institutes of Health

Taken altogether, Apricot with abundant bioactive compounds such as oleanolic and ursolic acids may be considered a functional fruit for the prevention and an adjunct therapy combined with primary medicine for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.



(1) Antitumor effect of Japanese apricot extract (MK615) on human cancercells in vitro and in vivo through a reactive oxygen species-dependent mechanism by Hattori M1, Kawakami K, Akimoto M, Takenaga K, Suzumiya J, Honma Y. (PubMed)
(2) Smokeless and other noncigarette tobacco use and pancreatic cancer: a case-control study based on direct interviews by Alguacil J1, Silverman DT. (PubMed)
(3) Obesity and Pancreatic Cancer by Michaud DS. (PubMed)