Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Feb 03, 2026 3 hours, 8 minutes ago
Medical News: Aronia Berry Offers New Hope Against Chemotherapy Resistance
Colorectal cancer remains one of the most common and deadly cancers worldwide, largely because many patients eventually stop responding to standard chemotherapy drugs. One of the most widely used treatments, 5 fluorouracil, often becomes less effective over time as cancer cells learn to survive despite the drug. A new study now suggests that a natural fruit extract made from aronia berries may help overcome this dangerous resistance and restore the drug’s cancer fighting power.
Natural aronia berry extract may help restore chemotherapy effectiveness in resistant colorectal cancer cells
Understanding Why Treatment Often Fails
A major reason chemotherapy fails is due to a small group of highly aggressive cancer cells known as cancer stem cells. These cells can self-renew, spread to other parts of the body, and resist treatment. Once they survive chemotherapy, they can cause the cancer to return and spread. Scientists have been searching for safe ways to target these stubborn cells without harming healthy tissue.
How Aronia Berry Extract Was Tested
In this
Medical News report, researchers tested aronia berry extract together with 5 fluorouracil on drug resistant colorectal cancer cells grown in laboratories. They also used advanced patient derived organoid models, which are three dimensional mini tumors grown from real cancer patients. These models closely mimic how cancer behaves in the human body.
Key Findings from the Study
The results were striking. When aronia berry extract was combined with 5 fluorouracil, much lower doses of the chemotherapy drug were needed to slow cancer growth. The combination strongly reduced cancer cell survival, limited their ability to migrate and invade other tissues, and sharply decreased the formation of tumor like cell clusters. Importantly, the treatment reduced levels of cancer stem cell markers such as CD44, Nanog, and Oct4, which are linked to aggressive disease and relapse.
How the Extract Works Inside Cancer Cells
Further analysis revealed that aronia berry extract blocks a key signaling pathway involving Toll like receptor 3 and NF kappa B. This pathway helps cancer stem cells survive stress and resist drugs. By shutting down this pathway, the extract weakened cancer cells and made them more vulnerable to chemotherapy. These effects were also confirmed in patient derived organoids, strengthening the relevance of the findings for real world treatment.
Institutions Behind the Research
The study was conducted by scientists from the Department of Molecular Diagnostics and Experimental Therapeutics at the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope in California, the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte California, and the Department of Surgery at Tokushima University in Japan.
Conclusion
This study provides
strong evidence that aronia berry extract could serve as a safe and accessible add on therapy for colorectal cancer patients who no longer respond to standard treatment. By targeting cancer stem cells and key resistance pathways, the extract significantly boosts the effectiveness of chemotherapy while potentially reducing required drug doses. Although more clinical studies are needed, these findings open the door to new combination strategies that could improve survival and quality of life for patients facing drug resistant colorectal cancer.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: Pharmaceuticals
https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8247/19/2/261
For the latest on colon cancer, keep on logging to Thailand
Medical News.
Read Also:
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/cancer
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/herbs-and-phytochemicals
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