Lung cancer is the second most common type of cancer in the world. In 2020, more than 2.2 million people worldwide will be diagnosed with lung cancer for the first time. In the same year, about 1.8 million people worldwide died of lung cancer.
While there is currently no cure for lung cancer, scientists are working on treatment options. Some of these scientists work at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), where a new study has shown that a natural plant compound called berberine can stop the growth of lung cancer cells in the laboratory.
Berberine is a naturally occurring plant compound that has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years. It is found in a variety of plants, including barberry, goldenseal, Oregon grape, and tree turmeric.

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Years of research have shown that berberine is effective in helping people with type 2 diabetes regulate their blood sugar levels and may help treat metabolic syndrome.
Researchers have also found that berberine can be used to treat a variety of cancers, including ovarian, stomach, and breast cancer.
According to Dr. Kamal Dua, Senior Lecturer and Senior Research Fellow in Pharmacy at the Australian Research Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), University of Technology Sydney (UTS) School of Medicine and lead author of the study, Berberine inhibits two key processes in cancer development – Proliferation and cell migration.
“Mechanically, this can be achieved by inhibiting key genes such as P53, PTEN and KRT18 and proteins such as AXL, CA9, ENO2, HER1, HER2, HER3, PRGN, PDGF-AA, DKK1, CTSB, CTSD, BCLX, CSF1. and CAPG associated with the proliferation and migration of cancer cells,” he explained.
In the current study, a research team including Dr. Dua, Dr. Keshav Raj Paudel, Professor Philip M. Hansbrough and Dr. Bikash Manandhar of UTS, as well as staff from the Malaysian International Medical University and Al Qasim University in Saudi Arabia, studied how berberine can be used to lung cancer treatment.
“Clinical use of berberine is limited due to its poor solubility and bioavailability,” explained Dr. Dua for MNT. “The main goal of this study is to improve the physicochemical parameters of berberine by converting berberine into liquid crystal nanoparticles and to explore its anticancer potential in vitro on alveolar epithelial basal cells of human adenocarcinoma A549.”
The research team has developed an advanced drug delivery system that encapsulates berberine in tiny soluble and biodegradable spheres. These liquid crystal nanoparticles have been used to treat human lung cancer cells in vitro in the laboratory.
At the end of the study, the team found that berberine helped block the production of reactive oxygen species, inflammatory chemicals produced by certain cells in response to bacterial invasion and other stressful events that can damage cells.
In addition, berberine helps regulate genes associated with oxidative stress and inflammation, and helps reduce premature cell aging.
“We have demonstrated that, using a nanotechnological approach, the properties of the compound can be improved to address various issues related to solubility, cellular uptake, and therapeutic efficacy,” explained Dr. Dua. Anticancer Potential Our berberine liquid crystal nanoparticles showed the same activity at five times the dose compared to the published literature, clearly showing the benefits of the nanodrugs.”
To further test these results, Dr. Dua said he plans to use the new research platform to conduct in-depth studies using preclinical animal models of lung cancer.
“Further pharmacokinetic and anticancer studies of berberine nanodrugs in animal models in vivo may reveal their potential benefits in the treatment of lung cancer and turn them into therapeutic dosage forms,” he explained.
“Once we have confirmed the anti-cancer potential of berberine nanodrugs in preclinical animal models, the next step will be to move to clinical trials, which we are already in discussions with a number of Sydney companies,” said Dr. Dua.
In addition, Dr. Dua said that the potential of berberine to prevent recurrence of lung cancer needs to be confirmed: “Although we have not yet investigated this, we plan to study it in future studies, and we also believe that berberine nanoforms will show promising activity. “.
Dr. Osita Onuga, thoracic surgeon and assistant professor of thoracic surgery at the St. John Cancer Institute at Providence St. John Medical Center in Santa Monica, California, told MNT that when researchers find new opportunities to treat and prevent cancer, there is always hope:
“Berberine is part of Eastern medicine, so we don’t traditionally use it in Western medicine. I think it’s interesting because we’re looking at what we know has some benefits for Eastern medicine stuff, and put it into research to help translate that into Western medicine. “.
“It’s always promising, but it’s in the lab, and a lot of what we find in the lab doesn’t necessarily lead to patients being treated,” Onuga continued. “I think the next thing to do is do some clinical trials on patients  and figure out the dosage.”
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