Urinary Tract Tumors Blog

Ingredient in Botanicals Tied to Urinary Cancer

Posted 23 Dec 2009 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Dec. 22 – New research links a carcinogen known as aristolochic acid, which is found in some Chinese herbal products, including guan mu-tong, to a higher risk of urinary tract cancer. The findings were reported online Dec. 21 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The study involved 4,594 people in Taiwan who had just been diagnosed with urinary tract cancer, as well as a random sample of 174,701 people from the country. The cancer rate was higher among those who had been prescribed more than 60 grams of mu-tong (which the researchers said might have had guan mu-tong in it) and among people who had consumed an estimated 150 milligrams or more of aristolochic acid. "In addition to a ban on products that contain any amount of aristolochic acid, we also recommend continued surveillance of herbs or Chinese herbal products that might be adulterated with ... Read more

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