MRC PhD student

Level of study: PhD

Title: The Chemopreventative effects of Sutherlandia frutescens

Cancer is the leading cause of death globally. The incidence of cancer is rising annually and this is a major concern as it has been predicted that by the year 2020, there will be 20 million people living with cancer. 70 % of these cases would be in countries that, combined, have less than 5 % of the resources for cancer control. The most common causes of cancer deaths are: lung, stomach, colorectal, liver and breast cancer with lung, stomach, liver, colorectal, oesophagus and prostate cancers being the most frequent in males and breast, lung, stomach, colorectal and cervical cancers being the most common in females.

Sutherlandia frutescens has been used as a tonic for many centuries by both the natives of the Karoo and the Early Dutch Settlers in the Cape. S.frutescens has also been used for a variety of ailments including backache, eye disease, hypertension, diabetes and cancer. A compound extracted from this plant has been found to be cytotoxic to breast cancer and lymphoma cells.

Aim
To determine the chemopreventative properties of S.frutescens on cancer cell lines and its mechanisms of action.

Objectives

• To investigate the activity of organic extracts of sutherlandia on in vitro cell cytotoxicity, anti-proliferative and apoptotic assays in nine human cancer cell lines
• To investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of sutherlandia extracts in in vitro assays
• To evaluate the anti-cancer properties of selected extracts and fractions in an oesophageal cancer rat model
• To fractionate and test compounds from organic extracts and to develop an LC-MS method which allows for simultaneous analysis of standard compounds for pharmacovigilence purposes

Supervisors: Dr Mervin Meyer (UWC) and Dr David Katerere (MRC)
Proposed institution: University of the Western Cape
MRC Unit: PROMEC