A research study from Long Island University, New York, USA, has discovered that a key ingredient in the herb oregano, could be used to treat prostate cancer alongside its known anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.
The researchers, led by Dr Supriya Bavadekar, are testing a component 
of oregano known as carvacrol on prostate cancer cells. The study has so far shown that the carvacrol induces “cell suicide” in these cancerous cells and this initial finding could have huge implications on the use of carvacrol as a cancer treatment.
Previous studies have identified pizza as beneficial in the fight against cancer and this was assumed to be due to tomato sauce rich in a chemical pigment called lypocene but this study suggests it may be thanks to the oregano topping used to season the pizzas. If carvacrol is found to be an effective treatment for prostate cancer this could be hugely beneficial in preventing the annual death of 10,000 men in the UK from this disease.
