The much-maligned sweetener could actually do some good in the battle against cancer. Ironically, saccharin, an artificial sweetener has long been linked to many cancers. However, new research presented at the 249th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society suggests that it could be used to fight cancer.
The researchers discovered that Saccharin can be used in developing treatments for aggressive cancers by deactivating a protein found to hasten the spread of cancer cells.
In the 1970s, researchers and scientists discovered the association between artificial sweeteners and bladder cancer in laboratory rats. Since then, the use of this artificial sweetener has been regulated by federal health officials. Thus, the packaging of saccharin contains a public health warning.
The National Cancer Institute says that there had been evidence on the effects of saccharin to the body specifically the bladder. However, subsequent carcinogenicity studies did not provide clear evidence on this claim.
Then in the late 1990s, the National Toxicology Program and the International Agency for Research on Cancer examined and analyzed the available research on the said artificial sweetener and they discovered that it is not a human carcinogen. Hence, in 2010, it has been removed from the list of dangerous and hazardous substances.
"It never ceases to amaze me how a simple molecule, such as saccharin - something many people put in their coffee every day - may have untapped uses, including as a possible lead compound to target aggressive cancers," said study author Dr. Robert McKenna from the University of Florida as reported by Medical News Today.
He may have discovered a way on which saccharin can help in the treatment of cancer which is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide.
Saccharin can be used in the development of a new anticancer medicine because it binds and deactivates a protein called anhydrase IX which is found in many aggressive cancers. It also has something to do with the spread of these cancer cells in the brain, breast, kidneys, liver, lungs and pancreas.